


Flowers Of Fate MK2

by TrashYatt



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions, Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: F/M, handful of other characters, lonashipping, shiningsunshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2019-10-26 07:45:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 45
Words: 106,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17741798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashYatt/pseuds/TrashYatt
Summary: Soulmate AU with Moon and Gladion (Lonashipping.)Aether have been calling out for the other champions in the different regions in order to get their help, and opinions on Aether expanding their company to the many regions. Gladion helping out, ends up bumping in to a girl that he later figures out is the champion of Kalos. It all starts with that one time they bumps into each other, but it starts for real when the Alolan champion decided to give his blonde friend a 'helpful' push.-- In the beginning of this, Gladion is suppose to be 19, Luna is 18 and Sol, Hau and Lillie is 17. ------------This is the rewritten version of Flowers Of Fate. The old one will still be up for reading while i keep going on this. The sequel (Hidden Flowers) will be completely updated as it's still going on.





	1. Eyecatcher

After the events with Ultra Necrozma and Sol traveling through the Ultra wormhole to defeat it, Alola had been mostly peaceful the few next years. Hau had taken on the league in order to try and become champion, only to stop after a while, figuring out that Sol were to strong to even get through. He started his training to become the next Kahuna, helping Hala out with the former Skull members and Guzma. Lillie were helping Professor Burnet at the lab from time to time, having gotten incredibly interested in the studies she had about the Ultra Space, and wanted to know more about it in order to help out at Aether in the future. Sol kept on with being the champion, helping out the Kahuna’s and the Captain’s with different things, as well as doing a lot of charity work for people. Gladion, after the events, took his leave and left for Kanto and Jotho, staying there for around two months before he showed up at the league, taking on Sol in hopes for the title, which he didn’t get.

Gladion sighed. «All that training for nothing then...» he muttered.

«Hey, don’t beat yourself up about it! We have all been doing our stuff while you left...Without saying goodbye to your friends!» Sol said, crossing his arms.

«Can’t recall ever being friends with you.» he replied, crossing his arms.

Sol laughed lightly. «Maybe, but i’ll on that list eventually.» he added, looking at the blonde boy with a smug smirk on his face.

Gladion shaked his head, giving off a light chuckle. «Yeah, right.»

* * *

Years passed, and Gladion had been doing more work at Aether after he came back, but occasionally took a trip to the league and the Battle Dome to clear his mind. After the many battles there, and taking on the league, Sol had asked him several times as of why he left Alola back in the day, only to get one reply every time.

_I left for Kanto and Jotho to train. Nothing more, nothing less._

  
Sol weren’t very satisfied with the reply, but had to accept it, knowing it’s hard to get anything out of the blonde. Lillie had asked the same several times, getting the same reply. She stopped asking all together, but were happy that he didn’t leave the region for a while, at least not until he left for Kalos, taking a year there to study Kalosian. Lillie wasn’t to excited about that, but it was for the studies, so he would be back after a while as well. One he were back again, he started to take Aether more seriously, and the visits to the league and the Battle Dome became few and far between. A year after being in Kalos, he got himself a girlfriend, and life seemed to be giving him some sunshine for once, only for that to get ruined when the girl muttered that she were only with him for the money to someone, which he overheard. Quickly breaking that relationship, he focused on Aether, but were rather cold and to serious.

Being at the VLFS, Faba were around complaining about different things, mostly about the summer season and that the tourists would start to appear. Gladion were holding a tablet, looking over some of the routes that would be available as a tour at the place. There was a few of the routes that he didn’t like, and decided to find Wicke and see what she had gotten her hands on. Faba tagging along, and kept on complaining, tossing in a few insults about him and that he would, most likely, ruin the company whenever he would take over, and kept glorifying himself as the best option at being the president.

«Is that really something you should be saying out loud?» Gladion added, giving him a side glare.

Faba stopped and looked at the young man with big eyes. He had never considered that Gladion might say anything to Lusamine, and risk losing his job. He scoffed. «No harm meant, young Master Gladion. I’m simply stating my opinions on the matter.»

«Better keep those opinions to yourself, no?» he replied, followed by a soft hum.

Faba cleared his throat. «Of course. My apologizes.» he muttered.

_Tch...Being the heir and think that you know everything. I hate children...I’m Faba! I know what’s best for the company!_

Gladion shaked his head slightly, walking over to the elevator with Faba tagging along closely. Writing the code in and pushing the button for the office floor, the railings came up and the elevator started to move up. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to get up to the office floor, and once there, Wicke were standing in the hallway door, looking rather confused at the tablet she were holding. Once the railings of the elevator went down, he walked up to her.

«Route not as it should be?» he asked.

Wicke flinched, and almost dropped the tablet, catching it before she fully did so. «Oh! Young Master...» she said in surprise, placing her hand over her heart while giving off a soft relieved sigh.

Gladion chuckled softly. «Sorry for spooking you.»

Wicke smiled sweetly to him. «No harm meant, young Master.» she said, waving her hand at him. «The route is looking okay, but i find it to...full and complicated.» she added.

She handed the tabled over to him, showing him what she meant with what she said, and he understood. There was a lot of things on that one route that most people touring and taking that one wouldn’t understand anything, much less, learn anything from it. «I get what you are saying. Talk to mother about it. I’m sure she’ll listen.» he said. «She listens to you anyway...» he added silently.

Wicke hummed softly while thinking, nodding. After a little of back and forth on the subject, Gladion managed to persuade her to tell Lusamine about it, and maybe move some of the things to a different, smaller route at the VLFS. Wicke found that as a good idea and would bring that up while she were talking to Lusamine. Wicke got the tabled and at the same time, she snatched the one he had on his hands, telling him that she can manage as much, and that he should enjoy the time he could before the tours begun, knowing that he’ll probably become very busy working. Gladion tried to tell her that it wasn’t necessary, but she insisted.

«Young Master, i insist. Take the rest off. Faba and i will take things from here.» she said, smiling sweetly to him.

«What…?!» Faba exclaimed loudly, having planned to just slack around the place. Gladion and Wicke looked at him, but the sweet smile Wicke had gave the man the chills. «Of course! I’m always here to help.» he added, swallowing thickly.

«Wonderful.~» Wicke said, and shushed Gladion off. «Go on, and have fun.» she said, giving him a sweet and playful wink.

«Thanks, Wicke.» Gladion said softly.

Wicke dragged Faba with her and left for the office, finding Lusamine. Gladion took the elevator down to the docks, hurrying over to the ferry that was about to leave, getting on before it managed to do so. Not knowing where it was going, he decided that it wouldn’t matter, just taking the time off and relax, catching his breath while sitting on the deck, looking out at the open sea and the islands that were making up the region. The ferry ended up at Akala Island, which he decided to get off on. Walking off and into the streets of Heahea City, it was already very packed with tourists. Not sure what to do, he decided to take a look at Heahea Beach, seeing if he would take on the Mantine Surf challenge and give it a go to beat Sol’s record. Walking over, he was about to turn the corner when a girl, who were walking backwards, bumped into him. It was a group of girls, and they were all giggling and seemingly having a good time, but their giggles stopped when this girl bumped into him. She looked up at him, giving him a sweet apologetic smile as she stepped forward, and turned around.

«Je suis vraiment désolé!» She said, bowing slightly at him. She were talking in Kalosian, and he found her rather cute.

«C'est très bien.» he replied calmly. He finally could use the Kalosian he had been studying for a year.

The group were taken aback a little, but started giggling softly again. The girl in front of him gave him another sweet smile, apologizing again and stepped out of his way, giving him a small wave as she continued down the street with her friends. The girls called her ‘Lu’, and they started to tease her, which made her quite flustered. Gladion stood his ground, watching as the group walked off. The girls kept talking and giggling, having a great time, at least until one of them said something to the ‘Lu’ girl, which made her turn and look over at him. She gave him a soft, warm smile and a little wave, which made his eyes grew wide in shock and turn away, becoming beet red.

_I stared…I’m officially a creep now..._

The girls giggled again, and disappeared behind the building at the corner. Gladion tensed up as he heard them giggle again, and slowly started to look over his shoulder, seeing that they were out of sight. He let out a sigh, putting his hands in his pockets and started to walk off, calming down as much as possible when he reached the beach.

_She was...kinda cute…?_

Getting to the beach, he noticed that Hau was there, as he had most likely taken the course from Melemele. Hau noticed him as he was on his way out again, and waved at him.

  
«Hey! Gladion!» He called out to him.   
  
Gladion gave him a polite nod as he walked up. «Hau.»

Hau got off the Mantine and walked over to him, hands on his hips. «Thinking about taking on the record again?» he asked, giving him a smug grin.

«You could tell?» Gladion replied, smiling sheepishly.

«Hey, it’s the only record you are after. And it’s usually the only thing that gets you to the beach anyway.» he said, laughing.

«Can’t deny that...» he muttered, feeling exposed.

«Come on, mister president. I’ll wait until you are ready.» he said, pointing over at the lockers.

«Not president yet, but whatever...» he replied, walking past him.

Gladion got over to the lockers, got himself into the gear. While changing, he noticed a small mark on his left chest. He studied it for a little, not sure when he got it, or how long it had been there. Shrugging it off, he continued to change, putting his clothes into the locker and dragged the key with him, tying it around his wrist with a rubber band. Getting back to the beach, and over to Hau, they exchanged a few words as a Mantine got ready for him to use. It took awhile for him to warm up to Hau, the guy being unusually naive by nature, which was a part of his charm, making it easy to talk to him. At least he knew his talk about pokemon and a lot of training for becoming the next Kahuna. He did mention that the training were cool, and he could feel himself getting close to getting accepted by Tapu Koko, giving him a determined pose. Gladion just shaked his head, chuckling softly.

«Il y a ton petit ami, Lu!» shouted a girl from the seaside.

The girl, ‘Lu’, became a blushing, flustered mess. «Ce n'est pas drôle!» she shouted back at her friend group.

Gladion and Hau looked over in that direction they were, seeing that they were sitting at a cafè, having something to drink and eat. One of the girls had noticed Gladion and decided to tease ‘Lu’ some more, pointing at him and say it out loudly. ‘Lu’ shouted back at her before hiding her face in her hands, being a flustered mess. Gladion became beet red again, as he did understand what they were saying. Hau didn’t understand and shrugged it off before looking over at Gladion, seeing him as red as he could get.

«You alright there, man?» he asked.

Gladion cleared his throat. «Yeah...Yeah...I’m fine. It’s just...been a while since i have been out in the sun.» he replied quickly, looking away from the group in a hurry. «Let’s just get going...» he added.

Hau shrugged again, and got onto the Mantine he were using. Gladion didn’t have to wait for much longer before a Mantine were ready for him, and as it got in front of him, he got on and the two started on the course over to Melemele. Hau didn’t have a goal in mind, other than to just beat his own current record. Ending up at Melemele, Gladion didn’t get close to Sol’s record, but beat his old and Hau’s new one, which was a victory in itself, making it a good end of the otherwise long day.


	2. Ice Breaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gladion is suppose to be 19. Luna is 18. Lillie, Hau and Sol is 17 in this. (At least in the beginning that is.)

The days started to get short and far between whenever Gladion had any time off, Aether being packed with tourists on the different tours. There was already a lot of stress going on with the employees, as they had to make sure everything were right and that they were giving the right information to the people, and Wicke organizing the groups at the entrance area before anything would happen. It was packed, and Wicke had her fair share of small meltdowns and panic attacks, but Lillie were around and helped as well, keeping the busty woman somewhat sane. Gladion had been tasted being at the conservation area, looking out for the pokemon that were there, making sure that they didn’t get to spooked from the many different people wandering about, taking photos and whatnot. Gladion had been rather busy with an Alolan Vulpix that had gotten itself tangled up in some branches, trying to get it loose. The more he worked on it, the more the pokemon moved and got tangled up all over again, as well as getting worse. 

He sat back a little, taking a small breather while looking at the distressed pokemon in front of him. «Stay still while i’m trying to get you loose...You’re only make it worse.» he lightly hissed at it. It only replied with a soft, distressed cry.

«Is everything okay?»

The voice behind him caught him off guard, making him flinch so much that he sat up in a hurry, managing to slam his head in a thick branch that were over his head. He let out a painful groan, lightly cursing under his breath as he shifted his position, sitting down on his rear.

«Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!» the the voice said, clearly in shock.

«It’s fine.» he managed to mutter out, looking over his shoulder.

It was the girl from the day before. His eyes grew wide while looking over at her, the same did she, but she were looking more worried if he were alright, as it sounded that he hit his head pretty hard. He turned back to the pokemon, muttering that he’s fine again, and started to work on the creature. The girl looked at what he were doing, and didn’t like the distressed cries that came from the tiny, white pokemon. She took a quick look around her before climbing over the railings, hurrying over to his side and sat down on her knees. Gladion stopped doing what he were doing when he saw her in the corner of his eyes, her starting to help tangle up the pokemon. She were softly talking to it, which made the Vulpix keep it’s attention on her and not move, making it easier to get it loose. Gladion kept looking at her profile, her gentle grey eyes, her bangs that were framing her face, soft smile and her soft voice. Her talking towards the pokemon in such a gentle manner made even him calm down. Gladion sat back a little, letting the girl beside him just do it, since she did it better than him. As the Vulpix got loose, she picked it up and held it gently, giving it a sweet smile. In mere seconds, as she got up, a branch that had been tangled up as well, got loose and swung itself at Gladion, hitting him straight in his face, over his eyes. The girl, ‘Lu’, were letting out a gasp in horror, putting her hand in front of her mouth, covering her gaping mouth in shock. Gladion let out a painful grunt as it hit him, groaning slightly as he got up on his feet as well.

«I’m sorry...» she muttered softly to him, standing beside the railings while holding the pokemon in her arms.

He let out a light groan, followed by a soft growl as he looked over at the pokemon in her hands. «I’ll survive.» he muttered.

They climbed over the railings and dusted off their clothes a little. As she dusted off the dirt from her knees, he straightened up his posture and looked at her. She was so small compared to him, and it baffled him. She straightened her posture and petted the pokemon gently on it’s head, telling it that it would be fine now. She then looked up at him, looking at him with big eyes before she snorted lightly, starting to giggle softly. She found it quite hilarious that he had a red line across his eyes, to which he just looked dumbfounded at her, not remembering that he had been hit by a light branch.

She gestured on her own face. «Will you be okay?» she asked, having a soft smile on her lips.

Gladion facepalmed. «I’ll be fine...» he muttered, blushing into a deep red color.

The Vulpix just looked at him, and in a second, it decided to help out cooling the wound down. It gave a light cry and used  _ Powder Snow _ on him, which made him sneeze. ‘Lu’ snorted again, and ended up laughing softly, looking away from him while doing so. Gladion became beet red, but then noticed that his bangs were now frozen solid after the ‘attack’ from the little pokemon. He gave it a harsh glare, which ‘Lu’ noticed and started to laugh even more and harder. He didn’t manage to stay mad at the pokemon, as her laughter were so uplifting and sweet that he just couldn’t, making him smile sheepishly while tapping on his bangs, sounding like it was made of cardboard. He sighed softly and hung his head.

«I’m sorry for laughing...» she muttered, wiping her tears.

«I’m well aware that i’m hilarious...» he hissed lightly. ‘Lu’ squatted down and put the pokemon down to the floor before she got up again, smiling softly and trying not to laugh at him. Gladion looked around a little, averting his gaze from her. «You should probably get back to your group...»

«Ah, right...» she muttered, clearing her throat and turned around, starting to walk off.

She gave him a light wave, to which he waved back at her. The Vulpix had been walking around her feet while she were standing there, and came to like her, and as she started to walk off, it followed her. Gladion didn’t mind, as pokemon in the conservation area were free to do as they pleased, just not getting in trouble. ‘Lu’ noticed that the pokemon were following her, and told it that it should stay behind, as it was its home, and that she most likely couldn't take it with her either.

«I’m sorry, Vulpix. But you should stay here.» she said and squatted down to it, petting it gently on its head. «This is where you belong after all.»

Gladion had walked in the same direction, but stopped at the corner, right before he would turn and kept on listening. She were talking to it, telling it that it should be here at Aether, and not tagging along with her. The pokemon gave a few cries that sounded very upsetting. While standing there, he were about to turn the corner, but stopped when his mother, Lusamine, showed herself in front of the girl. Gladion knew there would be some talk, and most likely some scolding, as for tourists to pet a pokemon in the conservation area were forbidden. She greeted the girl quite politely, which was new to him, as she would usually be very rude to tourists and be quite stern about the rules of the place. ‘Lu’ got up on her feet and faced her, greeting her politely.

«It seems the pokemon have taken a liking to you?» Lusamine said, placing a hand on her hip.

«I don’t know why...» she muttered, looking down at the pokemon that were now sitting nicely beside her.

Lusamine looked at the pokemon, and over at the girl again, nodding. «It’s one of the pokemon that we have had some trouble with. It will most likely never be ready to be released into the wild again.» she said. She looked at the pokemon and walked over to it, picking it up and handed it over to her. «Why don’t you take it? It seems to like you.» she added, giving her a sweet, polite smile.

«Oh...M-miss Lusamine...I-I can’t.» ‘Lu’ stuttered, getting the pokemon placed in her arms.

«Don’t be ridiculous. See it as a gift from Aether to the champion of Kalos.» she said.

Gladion’s eyes shot up wide when he heard it. «Champion of Kalos!?!?!» he silently exclaimed to himself.

He kept on standing there, listening intently on what they were talking about, giving her a little information about why the pokemon wouldn’t be ready for the wild. While listening, a sharp, stinging pain suddenly came over him, making him clench the shirt of his on his left side. ‘Lu’ had the same stinging pain, but reacted differently. She flinched lightly, smiling sheepishly at Lusamine, nodding.

«I’m honored to be considered suitable for it.» she said gently. ‘Lu’ bowed deeply to her. «If the pokemon wants to join me that is...» she added, looking down at it. The pokemon gave a pleasant cry, looking up at her and were smiling softly.

«I’m sure it will. Please take care of it.» Lusamine added. «Now...Please excuse me, i have a few different errands to attend to.»

«By all means! Sorry for taking up your time!» she replied, bowing to her again. ‘Lu’ watched Lusamine walk off, her heels clicking loudly on the flooring. She looked down at the pokemon again. «You sure you want to travel alongside me?» she asked, which the Vulpix just gave a content cry out at, nodding vigorously. She smiled softly. «Okay then. Who am i to stop you from doing what you want...» she added and walked off, finding her group.

Gladion was still watching from afar, still feeling the stinging pain on his chest, though, it had subsided a little. He took a few deep inhales, letting them all out with a soft sigh, but flinched when he turned around, seeing Lusamine standing there with her arms crossed. She were just tapping her foot, looking quite intimidating and wanting an explanation of why he was standing there.

«What in the world are you doing?» she asked, looking at him more closely. «And what in the world happened to you!?»

«Nothing fancy...i can say that much at least.» he muttered.

«Were you...Spying on the champion?» she asked, a mischievous grin appearing on her face.

«No...I was on my way to fix this.» he said, and pointed at his hair, growling a little.

«Please do.» Lusamine said and shaked her head. «Can’t have you look like that around here...and please don’t let anyone see you.» she added, passing him.

«The sole reason why i was ‘hiding’ here.» he hissed at her.

Lusamine just waved her hand at him, telling him that he should fix that as fast as possible, since there would be more tours coming this way. She started to lightly chuckle, finding it quite amusing that his bangs were frozen solid, and found it quite fitting with the red line across his eyes. Gladion growled and hurried off the conservation area, making sure that no one saw him and would ask him about it. Now that his mother had seen it, he were sure that she wouldn’t stop mentioning it in the future at some point, which just made him grow irritated by the thought. Not taking the elevator, since it would be packed with people, he found the emergency stairs in the back, taking them down to the office area, knowing that only employees of Aether would be having access there. He stopped as he entered the staircases, taking a deep breath and dragged the collar of his shirt down, taking a look at his chest, where it stung earlier. The mark seemed to have grown slightly, but were still looking like a bruise. He still didn’t know how he got it, and now, why it would even hurt, considering that it was from that area the stinging pain came from. He continued down the stairs and got into the hallway, finding his way to the break room to find something to help him defrost his bangs, and hopefully mask the incredibly red line across his face.

_ Well shit...It just had to happen today….and in front of the Kalos champion... _


	3. Hano Grand Resort

A few days had passed since the tour where Gladion got a slight beating in the conservation area, and it was still quite embarrassing to think about, much more so was that the champion of Kalos was there and saw it all. He just couldn’t seem to forget her light laughter and soft smile, which made his heart skip a beat. He wasn’t in the conservation area today, which was a relief for him, getting buried with documents and out of people's sight, not wanting to meet anyone, and make a fool of himself again. The papers were about the coming meetings that Aether had been planning, calling for the champions in each region for their opinions and hopefully willingness to cooperate with them to expand the office, starting to help pokemon in the other regions. There wasn’t a lot in the documents, but enough to give the champions a overview of what would be talked about in the coming months, giving them some time to think and gain questions about it. It was actually Faba’s job to do it, but he had left a few minutes after Gladion arrived, leaving the mountain of paperwork to him. It was annoying at first, but rather calming, keeping his mind somewhat busy and focused, despite being irritated that Faba had left, him saying something along the lines of ‘taking care of some business’, which would usually just be him ordering others around.

‘Lu’ were in Heahea City, staying with the former champion of Kalos, Diantha, at Hano Grand Resort. They were sitting in the outside area of the restaurant, having something to eat while enjoying the warm weather. Knowing that there would be a lot of meetings the coming months in Alola, Diantha decided to take some vacation first, and invited ‘Lu’ alongside her, with a few of her friends. Since they left a few hours earlier that morning, going back to Kalos, ‘Lu’ joined the former champion to kill some time, deciding on what to do.

Diantha sighed and reached for the tube of sunscreen. «Ugh, this sun will make my skin age quicker.» she lightly groaned, putting on more.

‘Lu’ just giggled softly. «I doubt, since you put on sunscreen lotion every 5 minutes.»

Diantha hummed softly and nodded. «I’m aware, dear Luna. But you can never be to careful, right?» she said, looking over her sunglasses at her, giving her a playful wink. «You should know all about that, non?»

«Bien sûr...» Luna replied flatly back.

Looking out at the horizon, listening to the Wingulls screech and the Pikipeks chirp loudly around the place were quite relaxing. It had been a while since she had a proper vacation after becoming champion of Kalos, saving the region from the ‘Ultimate Weapon’ that Lysandre, the leader of Team Flare, wanted to use, bragging about making the world ‘beautiful’ again, not knowing the consequences of using the weapon. At the time, she managed to catch the legendary pokemon Yveltal, the destruction pokemon. She never used it or kept the pokemon on her, but kept it locked up in the PC box for safety reasons, alongside her Gardevoir that kept it company and at bay if needed. It was quite the battle, and she almost lost to it, but her Sylveon at the time pulled through, hitting it with  _ Moonblast _ one last time before she caught it. Becoming the champion of the region at a young age were no dance on roses, since she got thrown into the responsibilities right way, luckily, Diantha were kind enough to help her out to get used to them, and is still around if needed. Luna became so lost in thought that her new pokemon, the Alolan Vulpix, noticed the silence from her and jumped over to her, landing in her lap. It had been laying in the chair beside her, since it didn’t like being inside the pokeball. Luna flinched when she felt it’s cold paws hit her bare skin, making her softly yelp and look down.

«Oh...Neige...» she muttered, giving it a soft smile as she gently placed her hand on it’s head, petting it. «Am i thinking to much again?» she asked, the pokemon letting out a soft cry.

Luna were from a very normal family. Living in Snowbelle City, her father being a Vivillon breeder and researcher, trying to find new patterns to the pokemon once they evolved from Spewpa. Traveling the different regions in order to do so as well. It was quite the odd place to keep a pokemon research facility, but Wulfric loved the idea of getting the city more on the map and helped out in the beginning. Her mother were working in Snowbelle City fashion boutique, and her older brother, Ciel, working for the Lumiose Magazine, working on making articles. Or that was was he always told her at least. Being the champion of the region were quite the change, and were a lot of fun in the beginning. A lot of battles with strong trainers, and a lot of travels and meetings with important and famous people, minus Diantha, since she were always around, beside whenever she were working in a movie, being a famous actress. The title had grown heavy on her for the last couple of years, and the responsibilities never stopped, making her wish that they at some point would and she could go back to her normal life, being a normal trainer again. Something she never would be, being the ‘savior of Kalos’ as well. She even started to hate the way people addressed her after her title, like she was an object of importance, and not human.

She let out a soft sigh, looking at the Vulpix. «I’m thinking to much...» she muttered. 

The pokemon gave a pleasant cry and curled up in her lap. It’s name, Neige, means snow in Kalosian, and she named it such after it’s white coloring, only to figure out later that it had a purple hue, meaning it was of a color variation. A shiny pokemon. A few of her pokemon were of the color variation, her first being her starter pokemon, Fennekin, who did evolve into a Braixen during her Kalos adventure, and her Sylveon, who she caught on Route 10 in Kalos, looking for a Snubbull at the time, wanting a fairy type pokemon. Not finding one, but a normal Eevee after a while, she stopped looking, wanting to just move forward on her adventure and see if she could find another one.

«You ready for the coming meetings at Aether, honey?» Diantha asked, snapping her out it.

«Oh, well..I guess?» She muttered. «As ready as i can be at least.»

«It will be about conserving pokemon that are prone to getting extinct and helping other hurt and most likely abandoned pokemon.» Diantha said.

«Thanks for letting me know...Now i have a slight idea of what will happen.» she muttered, slightly hissing it to the other women.

«Just leave the talking to me, and you’ll be fine.» she said, waving her hand at her.

Luna hummed and nodded, taking a quick look at the time on her phone that was laying on the table in front of her. «I’ll be taking my leave to my room. I promised that i would call mom after i had ‘settled down’ a little here.»

«Alright. I’ll be sitting here, or i might be going down to the beach. You’ll find me if you need me at least.» Diantha added.

«Okay...Later Diantha.» Luna replied softly, getting her bag and put the phone inside, and got it over her shoulder. 

She picked up the Vulpix and carried it gently in her arms as she got up from the chair, walking inside to the lobby. The lobby were quite full, being packed with tourists and young trainers that were looking for something. Maneuvering through the crowd, she got over to the elevator and pushed the button, starting to wait for it to arrive. The lobby were quite noisy, making it hard to notice when the elevator arrived. The door opened and she stepped inside, pushing the button for her floor. She placed herself in the corner of the elevator, watching the doors starting to close, but stopped once there was a hand in between, and a man stepped inside, panting heavily.

«Arceus...I made it.» he muttered between his heavy breaths. He gave Luna a smile and nodded to her as a greeting. «Sorry about that, young lady.» he said towards her.

«Quite alright, monsieur.» she replied politely to him.

The man stepped inside and pushed the button for his floor, which was a few floor under hers, making her feel relieved. The doors closed and the elevator started to move up, the horrible music starting. Luna kept her eyes in front of her, but were feeling quite uncomfortable, noticing that the man did look her down, nodding while doing so. Her Vulpix kept its eyes on the man, staring the whole way up to his floor, and until he walked out, bidding her a farewell. She bowed lightly to him as the doors closed, making sigh loudly in relief.

«Of course there will always be some creeps around...» she muttered.

As the elevator got to her floor, the door opened and she walked out. Walking down the corridor, she started to dig through her bag for the key, getting it ready. Keeping the key on hand, she got to her door and unlocked it, opening it up. The Vulpix jumped out of her hands and down to the floor, hurrying over to the bed, jumping up onto it. Luna walked inside and closed the door, getting her shoes off and walked over to the bed, sitting down as she took the bag off her shoulder, placing it beside her. She let out a soft sigh as she found her phone, looking at the screen for a few minutes. She made sure that Neige were out of her way when she tossed herself down onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling, which was decorated with some art of different water pokemon and bird pokemon. The pokemon scooted closer to her face, nuzzling into her cheek softly, which were lightly tickling her, making her chuckle softly.

Luna looked at the Alolan variant, smiling softly. «I wonder why you like me, Neige? I’m nothing special, that’s for sure. I’m just a normal trainer that does whatever i want...more or less.»

She reached for it, letting her hand gently go over it’s back, feeling it’s cold, soft fur. It started to mur gently, enjoying getting some attention and some pettings. It’s fur feeling like silk under her hand, making it hard to stop. She turned to her side, facing the pokemon properly as she continued to pet it, lightly scratch a few places she knew it liked.

«Do you think the meetings will go as planned? Will we ever get Aether to a different region?» she asked it, knowing that it most likely wouldn’t care, nor give her a proper reply. «Kinda miss the cold city...» she muttered, sounding a little upset while letting her hand softly go over the pokemon.

The Vulpix ended up falling asleep, which also made her grow drowsy. She sat up on the bed and got up on her feet, going over to her suitcase and found some other clothes. Finding a midriff top, a pair of skinny jeans and her short parka jacket, she put them on the chair. As she did that, she caught a glimpse of her left shoulder in the mirror, seeing a marking. Not been able to notice it before, she got closer to the mirror, studying it closely. She couldn’t recall how she got a marking like that, nor when she could have gotten it, but it being on her shoulder, and the place where she had a slight stinging pain a few days ago, would explain why it was coming from her shoulder, and at that spot.

«What have i done now…?» she muttered to herself, examining it more.

The marking looking like a small bruise, and in no particular shape or form, she shrugged it off as such, just a bruise she got without knowing how or when. She got over to the bed again, and laid down, her phone on hand as she were still planning to call her mother, but the more she looked at the Vulpix, the more drowsy she felt, and she eventually got lulled to sleep by the soft shrieks from the Wingulls and the seabreeze.


	4. Hano Grand

Luna slept for around an hour before she woke up by the tail of her Vulpix brushing across her face. She sneezed lightly and stretched her body, exhaling deeply. Looking up at the ceiling a little, she yawned and sat up in bed, stretching herself a little more. She looked over to her side, seeing the reason why she woke up. Neige had moved to her back, all her four legs in the air and its tail had been moving, brushing against her as it moved. She lightly used her index finger, scratching under its chin gently. It gave off a light murr as she did, making her chuckle softly. She carefully got out of the bed and walked out on the balcony, her phone still laying on the bed, forgetting that she should have called her mother an hour ago, it most likely being around midnight in Kalos. Standing on the balcony, the soft and gentle seabreeze tickling her skin, and flowing through her long hair gently, she looked around, seeing the Wingulls flying and hovering in the sky, crying loudly. She looked down to the deck, seeing that Diantha were still sitting on the same spot, which made her chuckle and shake her head a little.

«Sol! You motherfucker!!»

The loud shout caught her attention, looking down at the beach side, seeing a familiar face. It was Gladion, despite her not knowing his name. He were looking rather furious as he pointed at two others at his side, hissing and snarling at them to stop throwing Pyukumukus at him. The two others didn’t listen and kept on going, having the time of their life.

«Aww...Come on Gladion! It’s all good fun.~» Hau said towards him, chuckling.

«Don’t be such a stuck up, mini edge. You need to loosen up before the meetings!» Sol added. Him and Hau giving each other a nod, and threw the pokemon they had on hand at him.

«Don’t you dare...» he hissed, only for Sol to hit him straight in his face.

«Woops…~» Sol said in a singsong voice. «My hand slipped.~»

«DO YOU HAVE A DEATHWISH!?» he snarled furiously at the two.

Luna kept her eyes on him, and couldn’t help but to snort and laugh. Looking at the scene unfolding in front of her, she kept her eyes at Gladion. Despite him looking rather furious, she couldn’t take her eyes off him, finding him rather attractive. The more she looked at him, the more a blush appeared on her cheeks, getting a dreamy look on her face as she rested her elbows on the railings, using her hand to keep her head up while looking down at him. Despite him wearing clothes that were a little over his size, she could tell that he most likely did work out a little, the t-shirt not hiding him completely.

«Come on, Gladion. We’re just messing with you.» Sol said, trying to defuse the situation, which was already to late.

«No need to go full out, Gladion.» Hau added, holding his hands up in defeat., seeing that he were already quite furious.

«You really want to die that badly…?» Gladion growled. «FINE WITH ME!» he snarled and leaped after them.

Hau and Sol threw the last Pyukumuku they had on hand and ran for it, their expression being terrified while them both muttered ‘oh shit’ as they started to run off. Luna looked at the three as they ran off, Gladion following closely behind the two. Luna snorted and laughed softly again, finding it quite entertaining. Watching them as they disappeared behind the building, she could still hear two of them apologize, their voices slowly disappearing into the distance. Luna let out a soft, dreamy sigh and straightened up, walking into her room again. She saw her phone on the bed, and started to panic a little, picking it up in a hurry, and without considering that it was late in Kalos, she called her mother right away. Her mother took the call rather quickly, but were sounding quite tired.

«Hello, honey.» she said in a husky voice as she took the call.

«Hi mom...Sorry for waking you up.» she muttered.

«Don’t you worry about it. How’s Alola, sweetie?» she asked.

«It’s...hot?» Luna said, followed by a soft giggle.

«It’s a tropical region, so i did suspect it was hot. How’s the meetings going? Anything new you are learned?» she asked, sounding interested.

«No meetings yet, as they will start in a few days or so. My friends left earlier this morning as well...» she said.

«Oh, i see. How’s Diantha treating you? Not to throw her under the bus, but i have heard that she can be quite...cold.» her mother asked, sounding worried.

«Diantha is...Diantha. She’s alright if you are on her good side.» she said, followed by a soft sigh.

«Aww, honey. I hope the meetings will bear some good fruit, and that you can come home quickly. I miss you.» she said, sulking on the other end of the phone.

«I’m hoping so too. I just want to get home again...I miss my bed. And you of course.» she added.

Her mother chuckled softly. «I know, honey. Anyway...Be safe and don’t do anything risky. And of course, have fun while being there.» she said sweetly.

«I will, mom. Thank you.»

«Bye, honey. Take care and be safe.» she said, trying her best to sound cheerfully.

«Bye, mom. Say hi to dad and Ciel for me.» she added.

«Will do. Bye bye, honey.» she quickly added, hanging up on the call.

Luna looked at the phone a little, missing her family even more and starting to feel a little homesick. She sighed softly and sat down on the edge of the bed, which woke up the Vulpix, making it flinch a little. She looked at it as it turned around, getting on its feet before it stretched itself, yawning. Luna gently gave it a quick patting on its head. «Should be go for a walk? The day is still going strong.» she said. The pokemon just nodded slightly, letting out a soft cry.

Luna got up from the bed, and got into the clothes she found earlier. She witched bags, putting her belongings into the new one, and instead of taking a hat on her, she decided to just wear sunglasses, the sun being quite harsh on her eyes. Neige sat silently on the bed, watching her as she got ready and into some shoes. She got over to the door and called for the pokemon as she opened it. The Vulpix jumped down from the bed and ran over and out into the corridor, waiting outside at her to close and lock the door. Walking out, closing and locking the door, and putting the key into her bag, she turned to the pokemon, gesturing for it to jump up to her. Pokemon in the hotel were allowed, but they had either to be held, of possible, or be in their pokeball. Knowing that Neige didn’t like to be in its pokeball, carrying her in her arms were the best option, at least until they got outside. Gently holding the pokemon in her arms, they got over to the elevator and took it down to the lobby. While in the elevator, she gave Diantha a quick message that she would be taking a look around the city, doing some sightseeing.

Getting out of the lobby and letting the pokemon down to the ground, allowing it to walk beside her, they started to find their way down the street. She usually got a quick reply from Diantha, but didn’t this time. She didn’t really care to much about it, thinking she didn’t hear the message or were just to busy sunbathing to reply. Wandering down the street, doing some window shopping, she eventually walked into a shop, the Vulpix following closely behind her. Looking around at the items, she ended up getting a scarf for Neige. A bright blue scarf with a few white flowers on it, giving her pokemon some contrast beside her purplish hue. The pokemon were puffing its chest out proudly when she put it on after getting out of the store, giving a content and pleasant cry to her.

«Glad you like it.~» she replied to it, picking it up again.

Walking around some more, thinking about just looking, she ended up getting herself a black summer dress, because she found it cute and would do well with some swimwear under it. Standing beside the boutique, she looked down at Tidesong Hotel, remembering that there was something called Mantine Surf at the beach there. She walked over, and down to the beach, looking a little out at the sea, at the people that were taking on the coursed close by the shore.

It can’t be harder than snowboarding...right?

Getting interested in trying it out, she walked over to one of the tents, asking if she would be able to try it out. The lady who was sitting there nodded and told her that everyone can give it a go, but if she haven’t done it before, she suggested listening to the instructor to the side, who were giving a few basic tips and tricks on how to easily master and get a hang out of it. Luna nodded and walked over, listening carefully on what the woman said. Getting a grasp of what the basics were, she felt she was ready to give it a try, and got over to the lady in the tent again. The lady smiled sweetly to her, and asked for her size, as she needed it to find a suitable suit and gear for her. Luna told her and waited patiently while she found it, and handed it over. The lady pointed to the lockers for the women, who were just behind the tent and around the corner. It should be a few changing tents there as well.

«Also...Don’t forget to get the key with you, so no one can get in your locker and possible steal your stuff. We don’t want that to happen.» the lady added.

«Alright. Thank you.» Luna replied softly and walked off, heading towards the changing area.

Getting around the corner, she told her pokemon to stay in the pokeball while she were out, which it didn’t like, but nodded slightly at the order. She called it back into its pokeball and put it in her bag. Before getting a locker, she got changed out of her clothes and into the swim gear. She neatly folded her clothes and got out of the changing tent, finding an empty locker to put her things in. Once she found one, she put it in, locked the locker and got the pay, tying it around her wrist by the rubberband that was attached to it. She then walked over to the front, and stood there patiently, waiting for a Mantine to get ready for her. One quickly got over to her, and she got onto it, starting to get butterfrees in her stomach, but kept convincing herself that it was the same as snowboarding, the only difference were that it was on water, and not snow.

«Same thing...right?» she muttered to herself, letting out a soft sigh. «Alright...Let’s get going!» she said to the Mantine, it giving a cry and started to head out.

She ended up being out on the tracks for a couple of hours, ending it when the sky started to turn orange and the sun setting in the horizon. She didn’t get the best score, but she had fun and felt refreshed. Getting to the beach, she got off the pokemon, thanked it for a great time, and walked off. She decided to get changed into her clothes before checking the score board, seeing if she managed to get a spot at the top 5 list or win anything, if there was anything to win that is. Quickly changing out of the swim gear and into her clothes, she called out for the Vulpix again, letting it walk beside her as they found their way to the tent up front, handing the gear back. The lady in the tent took the gear and a quick look at her score, congratulating her on getting the second best score in Alola. Luna were quite stunned, thinking that she had done much worse than what the score table showed. Luna ended up picking a Primarina inspired backpack, finding it cute, as the prize. Neige gave a soft, content cry while thanking the lady. She thanked them for joining and said that they were welcome back anytime. Luna thanked her again and walked off, the pokemon following beside her closely.

Luna studied the backpack as the two were getting back to Heahea City, starting to head down the street towards the resort again. On the way back to the resort, she found Diantha running towards her, panting heavily. She stopped in front of her, and placed her hands on her shoulders firmly, telling her that she were so worried when she didn’t manage to get a hold of her, been calling and sending her messages all evening. Luna apologized and told her that she had been trying out the Mantine Surf, which made Diantha sigh in relief. Diantha noticed the bag Luna were holding, and wrinkled her nose, not finding it interesting or fancy looking. Luna said it was just a souvenir for her mother. Nothing more, nothing less.

«Good. I got worried there for a second.» she replied.

Luna just looked dumbfounded at her, thinking that she were more worried about her fashion than her well being, which wasn’t really anything new for her either. Diantha added that she were close to call the cops, since she didn’t reach her.

«Oh...That’s a bit...exaggerated...but i appreciate that you were worried about me. But i did give you a text when i left...» Luna replied.

«I saw, but didn’t think it would take the whole day!» she exclaimed.

«Sorry...» Luna muttered, feeling like a child that were being scolded for doing something bad, despite telling what she did.

Diantha sighed and turned around, telling her that they should get back to the resort, and get some rest. She were tired, and feeling quite burnt after being in the sun all day, as well as the meetings were going to start soon, so she couldn’t look like a shiny Clauncher. Luna held the snort in, but giggled softly, imagining her being  _ that _ red. Neige were giving off cires that sounded like laughter, which Luna hushed it for, but couldn’t help giggling herself at the thought. They got back to the resort and walked through the lobby, over to the elevator. They took it up, and Luna got off on her floor, being a ‘commoner’ while Diantha had a suite on one of the top floors. She said her goodnight and goodbye as the elevator door closed on them. Luna sighed, holding the Vulpix in her arms as she found her way to her room, getting inside. Letting the pokemon onto the bed, she laid down and stared up at the ceiling.

«Meetings starts in a day...I wonder how that will go...?» she muttered softly to herself, looking over at Neige a little. It gave a soft cry, and with that, Luna decided to take a quick shower, and get ready for bed, watching some TV to get tired.


	5. Aether

The next day started quite early for Luna. The meetings at Aether would be starting today, and she had to look like a champion. She got up early, took a quick shower, and got herself dressed. She decided to wear her ‘formal’ outfit, one she got in the boutique in Lumiose City. Her red shirt with a tie, black thigh high stockings, red pleated skirt and her red mary jane shoes, alongside her red fedora with the black feather accessory attached to it. She also had her satchel bag on her, making the entire outfit match, which was important for her. She kept her hair loose, not wanting to do anything fancy with it. Getting a notebook and a pen with her, just in case she wanted to note a few things down, and knowing herself, she most likely would, keeping herself informed on what was going on, as well as getting questions ready if needed. The first meeting would start at 11am, and she had discussed it with Diantha, planning to meet in the lobby an hour before and then get over to the marine, taking the ferry over to Aether in good time before the meeting. She took a look at herself in the mirror, making sure that the outfit were clean and looked right before she looked over at the Vulpix, it sleeping. She didn’t bother to drag the pokemon with her, and told it gently that she would just leave it be, but said that it shouldn’t do anything to get in trouble, not wanting to get thrown out of the resort for destroying anything. 

She took a last look in the mirror, getting her bag on her shoulder and made sure she had everything she needed. She nodded at herself. «Right...Here i go then.» she said to herself.

She grabbed the room key on the way out, locking it behind her before heading down to the lobby. Getting there, she walked around a little before taking a seat at one of the sitting areas, having a good view over the elevators, making sure that she would see when Diantha got down. The meeting were starting in two hours, and the ferry would take at least one, depending on rough the sea were acting. Keeping her phone on hand, she kept checking the time, and as the time passed, Diantha were nowhere to be seen. She eventually got so frustrated that she called her, not bothering giving her a message. Diantha took the call after a few minutes, sounding quite sleepy and groggy.

«Diantha? Where are you? We should be leaving soon!»

«Ugh...Please, Luna. We don’t have to be so early.» she muttered in a sleepy tone.

«E-early!? You are joking right? The ferry ride over to Aether takes at least one hour! And we should be at the marine in around...30 minutes!» she exclaimed, getting stressed from how Diantha were sounding.

«Ugh...I’ll be in the lobby soon...» she groaned.

«I’ll leave if you ain’t down in the lobby in fifteen minutes!» Luna added before she hung up on the call. «Sheesh...I wonder how you managed to become an actress if you ain’t on time...» Luna muttered to herself.

While waiting, Luna kept watching the time very carefully. After those fifteen minutes passed, she got up from her seat and left, walking over to the marine, and into the terminal, getting a ticket over to the VLFS. At this moment, she were very frustrated over Diantha, since it was her idea to get there early in the first place. For the time being, she couldn’t care less about Diantha and what she did. She was the champion, and she had to be there on time, that was at least expected out of her. She boarded the ferry and found a seat inside, waiting for the ferry to get going. While waiting, she kept her eyes outside at the marine, looking after Diantha, to see if she actually were on her way. The horn on the ferry eventually went off, and Luna just sighed.

_ Of course… _

The ferry left the marine, and headed over to Aether. It was very full, packed with tourists that were excited to see what Aether was about, and see some pokemon, having heard a lot about the conservation area. Luna shaked her head, and looked out at the open sea, seeing the other island beside Akala, it being Poni Island. From what she had heard from the locals, the Altar of Sunne were there, and it would be possible to see the legendary of Alola if they were lucky. It was another place she wanted to go, but didn’t know how to find the place, nor how to navigate through the island, so she could only imagine what the place would look alike in her mind. The ferry ride seemed short, as she kept her attention outside, and got lost in thought, making the ride over seem shorter. The ferry docked up, and people scattered, hurrying off the ferry like children, that were looking after some candy they had been told that could be found at a specific place. Luna waited until everyone else were off before she got off, walking over to the triangle shaped elevator, not sure what to do as she kept looking at it, and around the place.

A busty woman approached her with a sweet smile. «Hello, and welcome to Aether.» she said cheerfully.

«Bonjour.» Luna replied, and bowed.

«I’m sorry, but are you Luna? Champion of Kalos?» she asked politely.

«Ah, oui. I’m Luna.» she replied, giving her a sweet smile back.

«Wonderful to see you miss champion.» she said and looked around a little. «You shouldn’t be alone…?» she asked.

«I should be here with Diantha, but she overslept...So i just got here early.» Luna replied, smiling sheepishly.

«Ah, i see. That’s quite alright. Please follow me, and i’ll guide you to the meeting room.» she said, and gestured to Luna to follow her. Luna nodded and did as such, not wanting to get lost.

They stepped onto the elevator and this woman, who introduced herself as Wicke, entered a code, and pushed a button. As she pushed the button, the railings got up, and the elevator started to move upwards, towards the office area. Wicke started on some small talk, asking Luna about her outfit and Kalos fashion in general, finding it fascinating and interesting. Luna replied to the best of her ability, just stating the truth about her fashion choices.

«Kalosian fashion is fascinating. It can be both formal and casual at the same time. Can’t say that about the Alolan fashion.» she said, chuckling softly.

«Well...Alola is a tropical region after all, so i guess it’s just how it works out.» Luna said sheepishly.

«Very true.» Wicke replied, chuckling softly and smiling sweetly to her.

The elevator eventually stopped at the office area, and once the railings got down, Wicke started to walk off. Luna quickly following after her while taking in the sight of the place. Very white, very sleek and modern, with a few golden and black accents scattered around, making it seem interesting. Wicke eventually stopped and turned towards her.

«Here we are. The young master is inside and will be attending the future meetings, so please don’t be alarmed.» she said.

«Oh, that’s alright. Thank you.» Luna replied softly, nodding.

Wicke opened the door and walked in, telling this ‘young master’ that he should be acting nice towards the champions that would be arriving. «Please be nice to the champion, young master.» she said firmly.

«I’m as polite and nice as i can be.» he replied, not looking up at her.

Wicke hummed and nodded for Luna to come inside. «I’ll be taking my leave then.» she said and bowed to her, closing the door and left. Her heels on her shoes being heard making clicking sounds on the flooring, slowly disappearing into the distance in the hallway.

Luna took a quick look at Gladion, a faint blush on her cheeks appearing as she quickly averted her eyes, looking around the meeting room. Gladion, who were going to attend the meetings had his nose in a few documents, looking through them and making sure that they were about the meeting and the coming ones in the next months. He looked up, thinking to take a quick look at who the champion was, but found himself getting wide eyes, staring. A deep red color appeared on his cheeks as he looked at her, finding it hard to look away. Luna didn’t notice, and were looking outside of the massive windows in the room, looking out at the open sea and seeing the many Wingulls and Pelippers flying around, doing their own thing. Gladion were gawking at her. The light from the sun shining through the windows illuminating her just right, and the ripple reflection from the sea were showing in her eyes, making them look azure and wonderous.

_ She’s really pretty... _

Luna turned around and met his gaze, which made them both quickly look away again. He cleared his throat. «Bonjour.» he said hastily to her.

«Bonjour monsieur.~» she replied back, her voice sounding quite sweet and gentle. She looked around a little and found her way to the seat opposite of his and sat down. She placed her bag on her lap and found her pen and notebook before looking over at him, who had averted his eyes down to the papers again. «Are you okay…?» she asked.

Gladion hummed and looked up at her in surprise. Luna just gestured to his face and the red line from a few days ago. «Oh...yeah, i’m fine. Thanks.» he muttered, his cheeks getting quite red again.

She smiled softly. «Glad to hear that.» she replied softly, followed by a soft giggle.

Gladion cleared his throat in an attempt to get some control over his blush, and handed her a paper. «It’s about what the meetings will be about. Most likely at least.» he said.

Luna took it on hand. «Oh, merci.~»

Luna started to read through it, not wanting to miss anything. While she were doing so, being quite concentrated on the task, she didn’t notice that Gladion were looking at her, quite closely. Her bangs were framing her face just right, enhancing her beautiful grey eyes, making it even harder for him to look away. He could feel his face heat up, and his heart skipped a beat. It had been a few years since he found someone attractive, and it was a rather strange feeling, yet, it felt quite good, giving him the confirmation to himself that he wasn’t as cold and emotionless that he acted around people most of the time. She finished reading it, and put down the paper to the table, nodding at what she read, which was a habit of hers. Gladion could feel the awkward silence grow, and clearly didn’t want that.

Biting his lower lip, he looked around the room a little. «Uuuh...May i offer something to drink? While waiting?» he asked.

«Oh. Yes, please.» she replied sweetly, smiling softly at him.

«Right...» he muttered and got up from the chair, going over to the small fridge that was in the room. Every meeting room had one, and would be refilled before a meeting, making sure there was any refreshments available if anyone wanted anything. While looking into it, his mind went somewhat blank, and in panic mode, swallowing thickly.

_ Shit...she’s so cute… _

«Well...What do you want? We got cold Pinap Juice, Pecha Juice and Nanab Juice.» he said, looking over his shoulder at her.

_ Act professional, Gladion...act professional… _

«Pinap Juice, please.» she replied, smiling softly.

«Alright.» he replied quickly, taking that one out. He found a glass for her and walked over to the table and opened the bottle, pouring some into it before sliding it over to her. «Here you go.» he said, placing the bottle in front of them both, a little to the side, as not to obscure the view of her for him.

She took the glass. «Merci beaucoup.~»

She took a sip, and the awkward silence started, making Gladion quite uncomfortable, but that all ended rather quickly when Diantha arrived in a hurry, not looking happy. Wicke came walking in behind her, looking quite confused over at Gladion and just shrugged at him when Diantha hurried over to Luna, and started to scold her in Kalosian, thinking that only the two could understand them. Luna replied with that they should have left at the time they decided, and that it was her that decided on that time as well. She even added to her that it was  _ Alolan time _ , not  _ Kalosian time _ . Diantha got even more furious and sat herself down in the chair beside her, crossing her arms and legs, keeping her nose high and started to give Luna the silent treatment. Luna just shaked her head, giving off a soft sigh.

«Je suis désolé...» she softly muttered over to Gladion, who were looking very confused, but could understand the whole conversation between the two.

«Inutile de s’excuser.» he said to her calmly, holding his hand up as a gesture that it was fine. He was still quite confused about the whole thing, but couldn’t say anything about the matter, not knowing what agreement they had in the first place.


	6. Wingman Champ

The meeting was about to start, and the rest of the champions had yet to arrive. Gladion handed over one of the documents he had on hand to Diantha, which she took and started to read through it. Luna were sitting beside her in silence, feeling quite uncomfortable, feeling the rather furious energy come from her mentor. Gladion just sat there in silence, trying to find something to break the silence with, but to no avail, Diantha were rather intimidating with her ‘high’ and proud posture. Both Luna and Gladion let out a light sigh, which they heard from each other and looked up, meeting each others eyes. Shaking it off with a sheepish smile to each other, averting their eyes somewhere else, they starting to hear some distant chatter in the corridor. One voice were rather familiar, as it was Wicke, trying to keep the high spirits up. The door opened, and Wicke walked in, welcoming the rest of the champions and their mentors, the former champions. Wicke greeted them and gestured for them to take a seat, which they all did. Wicke took a quick look around and noticed that Sol, the Alolan champion were still missing. She didn’t say anything, nor do anything, knowing that the Alolan champion usually were late, as battles at the league could take some time once in a while. 

She closed the door and left the champions to it, but told them that the president, Lusamine, would be there shortly. The others gave their greeting and started to chat between each other. Luna noticed that she were the only current female champion of the loot, and felt very out of place. She did reply politely if she got any questions from the others, giving off some of her experience, which she felt didn’t matter. Gladion kept listening to whatever that were being told between the champions, but whenever Luna said anything, his focus were on her only. For every word she said, for every light giggle and smile, his heart jumped. He blocked out what everyone said and listened to her only. He did it unconsciously, and couldn’t explain why he were so smitten by her. Doing his best to act professional, some light clicking of some heels could be heard in the distance again, and from the pace it had, Gladion could tell it was Lusamine, as well as a fast one approaching behind her. Gladion shaked his head, knowing fully well that Sol were there, and just on time for once.

Lusamine stopped in front of the door, seeing that Sol were running up to her, panting heavily. «Sorry i’m late...» he muttered, taking a deep breath. «The last battle took a bit longer than i expected...» he added in a hurry.

«Quite alright. The meeting is about to start, so you were just on time.» Lusamine said nicely to him.

She opened the door, and walked past everyone up to the front. Sol got in after her, closed the door and took a quick look around, finding the only empty seat were beside Gladion. He got over, and sat down, letting out a deep, relieved sigh.

«You’re late.» Gladion hissed at him in a hushed voice.

Sol waved his index finger at him and narrowed his eyes. «On time, mind you.» he replied back in a hushed voice. Gladion just shaked his head in disbelief.

Gladion had given everyone a document with what the meeting, and coming meetings would be about, so most of them were informed about the matter. Sol skimmed quickly over the paper when Lusamine clapped her hands, greeting everyone, starting off with that it’s quite rare that every champion from the regions and the former champions were all in one place. Lusamine explained that she would just dive head first, and take on questions as they came, which everyone nodded at. She gave a brief explanation as of why Gladion was around and continued with the topic of discussion. Aether expanding to the other regions in order to help pokemon. Luna shifted her position in the chair, crossing her legs and opened her notebook to a blank page, getting her pen ready if there would be something needed to note down. Lusamine turned on the projector, and started right away, explaining why it would be great for the champions to assist in the project about expanding to a different region, using their influence and connections with both pokemon and people. While listening, and hearing questions from the others, she got down a fair share of her own, but didn’t want to ask anything before it all had been told in today's meeting, wanting to know if her questions would get answers as it went on. Gladion kept occasionally look over at her, but would everytime avert his gaze for a few seconds, only to look over at her again.

Sol, who were sitting beside him, noticed the looks he gave her and a mischievous smirk grew on his face. He nudged him with his elbow, getting his attention. Gladion looked over at him with a blank stare, only to see Sol’s smirk and eyebrows wiggle, giving Luna a quick look before looking over at him again, his smirk growing. Gladion’s eyes widened and he got beet red, letting out a silent scoff and looked away from the Alolan champion. Sol snickered silently, finally catching Gladion in the act of something. Some of the other champion noticed how the two interacted, but knowing that Sol were the first champion of Alola, he had been working with Aether for a while, and would most likely know Gladion on a personal level. Lusamine kept on going with what she were thinking of doing, how the expanding would go forth and what they would start focusing on when in said region. It all sounded like a good idea, but there was something that Luna noticed, and that was the planning of the entire operation.

Lusamine stopped and asked if there was any questions, since they all had been silent for a while. Luna muttered softly. «Well...I have a few i guess...» she started.

«Please ask.» Lusamine said gently.

«It all sounds like a great idea, and i’m all in for it, but...» she said, taking a pause. «Wouldn’t it be bad to start in every region all at once? Wouldn’t there be to much going on for Aether to give any direction when there is something going on in every region? To the point that if help is needed, Aether wouldn’t be able to provide that help...Making it all seem rather...pointless in the long run if it’s going to fail before it’s even starting properly.» she asked, giving a little point of view on her side of the matter.

«I’m sure the president have it all under control.» Steven, the former champion of Hoenn said to her.

«Oh, by all means...I’m just asking. I like the idea of us, the champions, helping out in the start and...somewhat...keep it running if needed. It just seems to much to start in every region all at once. I might be wrong though...» Luna muttered.

«I have to agree with the Kalos champion there. Starting in every region all at once is just a road to failure in itself. That’s something we are going to discuss in these meetings, yeah?» Gold, champion of the Indigo League, added, seeing that Luna were feeling shut down.

Lusamine hummed softly. «Valid points, indeed. It is something we are going to discuss in the future, as well as it was something i haven’t been thinking about. Thanks for bringing it up. I’ll see what i can do and give a proper reply to that at the next meeting.» Lusamine said, smiling softly.

Gladion were baffled by her words. His own mother hadn’t been thinking of the possibilities of a massive failure if starting in all the regions all at once. Even Sol were moping slightly, thinking that Lusamine always were a step ahead, thinking about everything.

«Seems your mother slipped for once...» Sol said in a hushed voice over to Gladion.

«Apparently so...» he replied silently.

Many of the others hummed in agreement, nodding slightly. The meeting then continued with a few more questions from the other champions before it ended. Sol kept on teasing Gladion throughout the rest of the meeting, making him as red as possible. As it ended, the others got up from the chairs they were sitting on, and walked out into the corridor, starting to talk and chat among themselves, about what they thought of Alola and whatnot they liked or didn’t like about the region. Luna packed down her notebook and pen into her bag, and slowly walked out of the room, following after Diantha, who seemed to be in a hurry and quickly walked off. Sol and Gladion sat behind after everyone left, Sol continuing to tease him about the Kalos champion and that he kept looking over at her.

«Gotta admit...she’s pretty, but i never would have thought that you would find someone to gawk over.» she said snickering lightly.

«Don’t be ridiculous, Sol.» he hissed, shaking his head, trying to shake the massive blush off his face.

«Your red face says a different story!» he exclaimed and laughed out loudly. «You kept looking over at her! How long has it been since your last girlfriend...3...4 years now soon? Time for a new romance.~» he added, throwing some sass at him.

«She’s a champion, Sol...There is no way...» he said, but stopped himself when looking over at Sol, who had a mischievous grin plastered across his face. «By Arceus, Sol! NO!»

«Uuugh...» Sol groaned loudly. «You are no fun.» he added and got up from the chair.

«I’m not trying to be...» he hissed at him.

Sol waved his hand at him. «Yeah yeah...Whatever.» he said. «Might as well just ask her myself then...» he added and hurried out of the room.

Gladion sighed and shaked his head a little. His eyes shot wide open when he realized what Sol meant by ‘asking her himself’, which made him panic and shot up from the chair, run out of the room and looked down at the corridor. He gasped in horror as Sol called out for the Kalosian champion.

«Hey! Kalos champ!» he said, hurrying up to her.

Luna stopped and turned around to face him. «Oui?» she muttered softly, looking both surprised and confused at the Alolan champion.

«Sorry, don’t know your name...» he said, giving her a sheepish smile.

Luna shaked her head, smiling sweetly. «That’s alright. Name is Luna.»

«Ah, pleasure.~» he said and nodded. «Anyway...My friend over there...» he started, looking over his shoulder, seeing Gladion approaching fast. «...He likes you, and i’m sure he would love to hang out sometime.» he added before Gladion grabbed him in a chokehold.

«You shut the fuck up!» he snarled at Sol. Sol yelped lightly, muttering lightly in pain. Gladion didn’t dare to look up at her. «Don’t listen to him...he’s speaking nonsense as usual!» he added, getting as red as Bounsweet.

Luna were just looking at the two in slight shock for a few seconds before she looked away, starting to giggle softly. As she were giggling, Gladion loosened the grip around Sol, both of them looking dumbfounded at each other. «Soo...Is that a ‘yes’ or something?» Sol asked.

«A, oui.~» she replied softly. She found her notebook and pen, quickly wrote down something and ripped the page out, handing it over to Gladion. «C’est mon numéro.» she said. «Au revoir.~» she added, giving them both a small wave as she turned around and started to walk off.

Gladion held the piece of paper and let go of Sol, staring dumbfounded at the piece. Sol straightened his pose and hissed at Gladion to never take him in a chokehold ever again. Seeing the blonde’s rather terrified expression, he looked over, taking a glimpse of what was on the paper. Her name was written down and some numbers. Sol rioted.

«Ooh!!! She gave you her number!!» he exclaimed loudly.

Gladion’s jaw dropped as he looked over at the overly enthusiastic champion beside him, looking rather proud at what he had done. His expression kept being rather terrified looking as he looked down at the piece of paper again, swallowing thickly.

«Wingman Champ is always there to help!» Sol said, swinging his arm around his shoulders, giving him a light pat on his chest. «Now you better ask her out. For real!» Gladion didn’t know what to do and just stared at the numbers on the paper, trying to say something, but nothing came out.

Luna headed over to the elevator, joining a few of the others down to the docks, boarding the ferry that would take them to Akala Island. Luna gave her number out of curiosity, as well as she did find him attractive, so a short ‘summer flirt’ wouldn’t do any harm. At least that’s what she were thinking on the top of her head.


	7. Asking real Questions

After the meeting that day, Sol decided to help Gladion out, giving him the push that he needed for a start to get to know the Kalos champion. He told her straight, and as a joke, that his friend, Gladion, did fancy her. Gladion didn’t like that it happened and tried to stop it, but were to late. Luna ended up giving her number to him before walking off, leaving the VLFS. They were watching her closely when she got over to the elevator, and stepped onto it. Before it started to descent do the docks, she turned towards them and gave them both a small wave and a soft smile. Sol were proud and it showed, while Gladion had a mixture of terrified, shock and surprise on his face. The two young men were still standing in the hallway, but pretty dumbfounded in their own ways. Sol patted him on he shoulder.

«Alright. My job here is done.» he said and started to walk off. «You can thank me later, Gladboy.» he added, giving him a salute as he walked off.

Gladion kept standing there, watching the Alolan champion walk off before he took the elevator down to the entrance area. Gladion looked down at the paper again, seeing her number, reality hitting him real hard.

_ Why did you do this to me, Sol… _

His heart were pounding hard and loud in his chest. It was pounding so hard that he didn’t notice the stinging pain resurfacing again, and the mark on his left side growing slightly with it. The mark were slowly turning into a beautiful shape, but it would take some more time before it became a distinct shape of anything. Gladion swallowed thickly, and panicked again.

_ I haven’t been on a date for years!!!...I don’t even know her!!!...What am i going to do!?!?!?... _

He got over to the wall and leaned against it, groaning while he ran his hand over his face, lightly shaking from the adrenaline he felt. He held the piece of paper tightly in his hand, trying his best to calm his breathing down and generally, calming himself down. His mind started to wander, thinking that he probably should just ghost her and leave it at that. But she’s the champion of Kalos, and would be staying in Alola for a while, so that were most likely out of the question, since they would be seeing each other for a while anyway. Taking a few deep inhales, he got off the wall and started to walk towards the elevator, putting the piece of paper deep into his pocket. Getting onto the elevator, he pushed in a code and the button for down to the entrance area, planning to head home, calming down some more there. Getting down, he headed to the mansion in the back and got inside, only to meet Lillie in the hallway, looking at him with big eyes for a few seconds before she lighted up, smiling widely.

«Brother!! Sol texted me what he did! I’m so happy for you!» she exclaimed.

«Of course he did...» Gladion grumbled, closing the door behind him.

«How are you feeling though? All good?» she asked, walking up to him.

«Never better...» he hissed, not meeting her gaze.

Lillie smiled and giggled softly. «Oh, come on! It’s not that bad! Take her on a regular date, and you’ll be fine.~» she said cheerfully, clapping her hands in excitement.

«Lillie...It’s Alola...Nothing here is ‘normal’.» he hissed at her.

«Pfftt. You know what i mean.» she said, dismissing what he said. «Just got for one. Doesn’t work out, then you can say that you have at least tried, yeah?»

«I guess...» he muttered.

«Let’s just hope she isn’t into details.» she added, followed by a soft giggle.

«You are not helping, Lillie!» he growled at her. He groaned, scratching the back of his neck. «W-what did Sol tell you…?» he asked lightly.

Lillie hummed softly, crossing her arms. «Hmm...Nothing much really. Just that you kept looking at her, and that after the meeting, he asked her for you.»

«Right...»

«Which ended up with her giving you her number.~» she added, smiling at him. «Did she really though? Give you her number?»

«I guess...» he muttered.

«You guess? You either got it or didn’t.» she said, placing her hands on her hips.

«I don’t know...All i know is that she gave me some number!» he growled at her.

«Alright...Alright...Just give it some time and think about it if you want to get to know her properly or something. It can’t hurt to try at least.» she said. «Anyway, i’m out.~» she added and walked past him.

«Where are you going?» Gladion asked curiously.

«Battle Tree. Hau decided that he wanted to help me out today, at least as long Sol is at the league. Sol is going to join me and Hau later.» she replied. «Bye bye.~» she added sweetly, waving at him.

* * *

 

After Luna gave her number to him and getting down to the docks with the rest of the champions. Getting onto the ferry, she found Diantha sitting inside, and not wanting to have a fight with her, she took a seat outside, deciding to take in the soft seabreeze. Sitting down and when the ferry left the VLFS, she started to think back at the current event, when Sol decided to tell her that Gladion were fancying her. Remembering the frightened expression on his face when she gave him her number were priceless, but she were also sure that she had scared him completely away, and that he would most likely ghost her. She kept her hopes up and smiled softly, looking out at the horizon, her heart racing lightly in her chest. A small, stinging pain started on her shoulder, making her flinch. She rubbed her shoulder a little, trying to ease it. She decided to check it out when she got back into her room, not going to undress at the ferry, just to take a quick look. Diantha were sitting inside, and had her eyes on Luna. She were still very much angry at that she left her at the marine, but it was her own fault, not getting up at a proper time and getting herself late over to Aether. At least she managed to get there before the meeting, and were right after Luna as well. As much as she wanted to blame the young champion, it was her own fault for staying up late the previous night, hanging out at the bar and getting chatted up by different men.

As the ferry got to Heahea city, they all got off and scattered into each of their direction. Many of the other champions and their mentors were staying at Tidesong hotel, except for Ruby, champion of Hoenn and his mentor, Steven Stone, who were also staying at the resort. Diantha took her opportunity to talk to him on the way over, while Ruby were busy talking on the phone with someone. Luna didn’t mind, keeping to herself were rather natural for her. Getting into the resort, taking the elevator up to her floor, she hurried over to her room, wanting to check her shoulder quickly. The pain had stopped, but she were curious if the marking she had there had been growing or not. Getting into her room, she placed the her bag on the bed and quickly undid her shirt, taking it off to check her shoulder. As she thought, it had been growing, and were starting to take shape of something.

«What is this thing…?» she muttered to herself.

The Vulpix had been sleeping the whole morning, and woke up when she placed her bag on the bed, making the weight shift a little on the small pokemon. It looked over at her, seeing that she were studying her shoulder, and the marking she had. It didn’t say anything, but kept laying there and look at her, wondering why she looked so confused at herself. Luna turned around, letting out a soft sigh and looked at her Vulpix. She got over, and petted it gently before taking the shirt and tie, neatly folding it, deciding to change into something else for the rest of the day.

«Thank you for not wrecking the room, Neige.» she said gently to the pokemon. The pokemon gave a soft cry at her, looking content.

She found her other pair of skinny jeans, paired it up with a black tank top and a dark blue parka. Getting out of the other outfit, she changed quickly before getting out to the balcony, sitting in the chair there, just looking out at the beach and the many different people laying across the white sand. The Vulpix flinched and gave a soft yelp when her phone gave some sound in her bag. Luna looked over at the pokemon, that were curiously looking at her bag. She chuckled softly and got up from the chair, walking over to the bed and picked up her bag, finding her phone. She got it out and placed the bag on the table instead of the bed, letting her pokemon curl up again and go back to sleep, which it did rather quickly. Luna got out to the balcony again, sat down and got her phone up, checking why it gave a sound a few seconds ago. Her eyes grew wide, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.

«He actually messaged me...» she muttered softly, looking at the message Gladion had sent her. She opened it up, being quite curious what he had wrote to her.

_...Gladion here...Sorry about Sol. The Alolan champion...he can...be all over the place at times.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Luna snorted lightly and giggled, a smile forming on her lips when she thought back at the morning. It was funny, yet rather sweet of the Alolan champion to help him out, not knowing what friendship they had.

_ That’s alright. Didn’t really expect you to message me...heh.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Oh...Sorry about that…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Oh! Don’t be sorry! I’m glad you did.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Uuh...Sorry for asking, but...Why did you give me your number? Out of whim i guess…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Out of curiosity, mostly.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion were staring at the screen, not really sure how to reply to her. He even started to regret messaging her in the first place, his mind going back to the morning, after the meeting and how he made a fool out of himself, alongside Sol. Biting his lower lip, he thought hard of what to reply next, only for her to text first.

_ Sorry for asking...But what your friend said about you fancying me...is that true?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion panicked. Sitting in his room, he got up from his chair, only to sit down again, not sure how to react, nor what to reply to her after this. He got up from his chair again, and started to pace around his room, keeping his eyes down at the screen, rereading the message several times, which only made him panic even more.

_ Oh no...I should have ghosted her… _

_ Sorry for asking. You don’t need to reply to that...I’m just curious since it did look like he were joking…  _ **_\- Luna_ **

When he got the new message, he let out another relieved sigh, calming down a little.

_ It’s fine...Like i said...He can be all over the place.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Heheh. Don’t worry about it.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion calmed down, but his heart were racing like crazy. He took a few deep inhales, letting them out with a sigh, thinking that Sol might actually have helped him again for once, even with being the usual idiot that he was. Sol being the jokester that he was, but were rather ‘calm and collected’ whenever Hau wasn’t around. Gladion didn’t notice, but a soft smile were growing on his lips, thinking that he might just give it a go, get to know this girl and see where it takes him. He replied back that he was sorry that Sol were so forward, not denying that he did fancy her. Luna kept her attention on her phone, a big smile plastered on her lips as she and Gladion kept giving each other messages, just him apologizing that Sol were like that, and Luna saying that it was fine. While texting back and forth, the conversation were rather pleasant, and for him, it was a good start if that happened face to face with her, knowing that he would most likely run off and left her at that.

_ Maybe i’ll just give it a go... _


	8. Timed and Planning

They kept on texting each other for a while, and he kept rereading the messages he got from her, not being able to comprehend that she, a champion of a different region, actually were talking to him. Luna did the same, rereading the messaged he had sent her, keeping a soft smile across her lips. Gladion were slowly getting the courage to actually ask her, but cut it short when he got a call from Wicke, asking where he was and that he was needed as an extra pair of hands at the conservation area. He decided to give her a quick text back.

_ Sorry...I have to go. Aether don’t really run on it’s own. _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Oh, of course. Don’t let me hold you up. _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Uuh...Well...if you want to...we could hang out sometime…?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Luna got surprised by the message he sent her, but smiled widely, lightly squealing when she read it, and had to reread it several times before she decided to reply to him. Gladion, on the other end had gotten out of the mansion and started to head over to the elevator, the adrenaline making him feel ready for whatever that would get thrown at him. As he got onto the elevator, pushing the button up for the conservation area, he got a new text from Luna and quickly got his phone up, taking a look.

_ Sure.~ I would love to.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion’s jaw dropped slightly, feeling his cheeks heat up. He didn’t expect her to agree, thinking that being a champion, she had other and better things to do than to hang around some gawking idiot like him. Not sure where to go, nor were she wanted to go, he decided to just ask her.

_ Really...? Umm...Anywhere you fancy?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ I don’t really know Alola that well...So anywhere is fine.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Okay...Alright...I’ll...figure something out.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Gladion let out a soft sigh, feeling quite relieved, happy and excited that she actually wanted to hang around him. As the elevator stopped, he put his phone into his pocket again, taking a deep breath before walking around, finding Wicke and ask what he needed to do. Wicke handed him a tablet, and asked if he could keep a track on it for a while, at least until she were done with finding Faba, and get him to work, since he had disappeared somewhere. Gladion sighed and shaked his head in disbelief, but nodded to her.

«Sure...Go and find the guy...» he muttered.

«Thank you, young Master.» she said and bowed, starting to walk off, going to check the conservation area first to make sure he wasn’t hiding in a corner there.

While Gladion were standing there, looking over what was going on on the tablet, he got another message from Luna, which he quickly checked.

_ Bien sûr.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion smiled softly and put the phone away again. Wicke had walked around a little already, not finding Faba, and were about to walk back to Gladion, but when she saw a soft smile on him, she didn’t, finding it a rare sight to see a genuine smile on the young man. She decided to just take her leave, and let him be, not wanting to interrupt whatever that made him smile after many years of keeping him to himself. Luna were sitting on the balcony still, but squealed rather loudly, making the Vulpix look over at her in confusion. She looked over at the pokemon, holding her phone close to her chest and gave it a sheepish smile.

«Sorry, Neige...I’m just excited.» she said to it. The pokemon just tilted it’s head in confusion, giving off a soft cry. Luna had a soft smile on her lips, and her cheeks had a faint red color across them, wiggling in her seat in excitement. «I’m going on a date!»

She got up from the chair and into her room, starting to decide what to wear, getting it ready already. While going through her luggage, the stinging pain came back to her shoulder, making her flinch when it started again. She rubbed her shoulder again in a new attempt to ease the pain that came all of a sudden. Ignoring the pain, she continued to go through her luggage, finding something, but then started to think she should wait until she knew were they would be going. It had been years for Luna when she last were on a date, much less, being as excited as she were feeling. After a while, she calmed down and decided to take a stroll around the place, see if she could find any new pokemon and possibly train her Vulpix a little. She nodded and grabbed her bag, placing it around her waist and got her pokemon team and items in it before calling for her Vulpix, telling it that they were going out to take a look. The pokemon got up on its feet and stretched, followed by a yawn before it jumped into her arms.

«Alright. Let’s go and take a look.» she said cheerfully. The pokemon giving off an excited cry.

As Luna got down to the lobby, she saw Diantha, sitting there with Steven Stone and the Hoenn champion, Ruby. She tilted her head and walked over, greeting them all. Diantha then ordered her to sit down, and be polite, to which she did, not sure why she followed her order or anything of the sorts, looking quite confused. Ruby, chuckled a little at her expression, which made her blush out of embarrassment.

«They have been talking non stop since they sat down here.» Ruby muttered over to Luna.

«Oh...I’m not surprised really.» she replied, followed by a soft sigh.

After helping Wicke out at Aether until she found Faba, she told him that he could leave if he wanted to, which he did. Thinking on taking some challenges at the battle tree, knowing that Lillie and Hau were there, and most likely Sol. If not, he would at least arrive later in the evening. While getting down to the docks, his chest started to sting again, and rubbed it gently. He didn’t even care to check it, knowing that it might be the mark that were growing, having noticed that it did so whenever there was this stinging pain in the area. Waiting for the ferry to arrive, he started to think of where he would be taking Luna, as she didn’t know the region that well. Because of that, he thought that it would be better to take her somewhere he knew he wouldn’t bump into people he knew, which usually were Malie City. Of course, Nanu would be wandering around, but he didn’t care what was happening around him, nor did he give people any attention, minding his own business only. The Skulls were usually at Melemele, around Iki Town and being trained by Hala, with the help of Hau whenever he were around. Getting onto the ferry once it arrived, he took a seat inside, close to the windows, planning a little more on what to do if he took her to Malie.

_ Starting with a dinner…? _

_ Wandering around Malie Garden…? _

_ Hokulani Observatory…? _

He sighed softly, shaking his head. He were sure he would figure out something, and just wanted to give her the best experience, despite it most likely would be very awkward. Looking out at the open sea, he would see that Poni Island were slowly getting closer, to which he got up from his seat and walked outside, deciding to stay on the deck until the ferry docked up at Seafolk Village. The ferry eventually got to the Village and docked up, and he got off, taking a deep breath while standing there, looking around a little. He called out his Umbreon, letting it walk beside him as he started to walk off, finding his way over to the Battle Tree. His Umbreon noticed that something were up with its trainer, and kept its attention focused on him, trying to figure out what was going on. It did notice something, but couldn’t figure it out. While walking over, Gladion noticed that his pokemon were occasionally looking up at him, and it made him stop.

«What?» he asked it. «Something wrong?» The pokemon just sat down, tilting its head, looking up at him while giving off a cry. Gladion squatted down to it, placing his hand on it’s head. «What is it? Something wrong with me?» The pokemon nodded, pointing its nose at his chest, where the marking had appeared on him, giving off a low, soft cry. «Right...I don’t know what that is...It’ll probably go away after a while.»

Gladion got up on his feet again, and started to walk off, telling his pokemon that he was fine. The pokemon didn’t believe it, as it felt that there was something going on, at least from the look on Gladion’s face, him looking a little brighter than usual. At the resort, Luna had been sitting in the lobby, beside Ruby, listening to Diantha and Steven talk about everything between heaven and hell. Ruby noticed that Luna were holding an Alolan variant, and decided to ask her about it.

«Been around Mount Lanakila i see.» he said, pointing at the pokemon.

«Oh...No. I got her from miss Lusamine some days before the meetings were about to start.» she replied, giving him a sheepish smile.

«Oh, really? You got a pokemon from the Aether president? That’s impressive...» he said, scratching the back of his head.

«Why is that?» Luna asked, not sure why that was impressive.

«Just rumors that i have heard really...Just that the president seems to pick favourites among people. Impressive if you managed to get on that list.» he said, shrugging.

Luna giggled softly. «I’m sure i’m not on that list.» she said, looking down at the pokemon. «She said something that ‘it was one of the pokemon they had had trouble with’...whatever that means.» she added, shrugging as well.

«Meh...I guess.» he added. «Speaking of pokemon...Why isn’t it in its pokeball? And is that a normal color for the regional variant?» he asked.

«She don’t like to be in her pokeball, and i haven’t seen the regular colored regional variant. But from what i have heard, she’s a color variant as well. A shiny pokemon.» Luna replied, feeling a little proud knowing that.

«A shiny even? Now  _ that’s _ impressive at least. They are hard to come by.» he said, giving her a warm smile.

«I guess...» she replied, followed by a soft giggle.

The two champions continued to talk, at least until he received a call, excusing himself and walked off, taking it. Luna watched him walk out, taking the call and looked rather happy, laughing and talking about Alola so far. Luna suddenly felt a little left out, listening to Diantha and Steven talk about everything, and now Ruby were talking to someone he cared about, being all happy. Her Vulpix noticed that her expression changed, and gave a soft cry up to her, making her snap out of her thoughts, giving it a soft smile.

«I’m fine, Neige.» she said softly, leaning down to the pokemon and gently nuzzled into it fur-like bangs. It just gave another soft cry, giving a light lick on her forehead, trying to comfort her somewhat. She smiled. «Thank you.» she muttered softly at it.

Ruby came back after a while, and apologized that he left. «Sorry for leaving, but it was Sapphire..a friend of mine, and she gets really mad if i don’t reply right away most of the time...at least now, that i’m here in Alola. Haha...» he said.

«Don’t worry about it.» Luna replied, looking up at him, giving him a soft smile.

They ended up chatting a little again, but it was rather awkward. She had to force herself to stay happy, despite not feeling like it, and that was hard in itself. She did her best though, keeping the happy facade that Diantha had told her to get going whenever she didn’t feel like it. It was something that Diantha had taught her, and she secretly hated it, keeping it for the ‘perfect’ champion image that she thought that Kalos and everyone else around her wanted.


	9. "Sealing" the Deal

A few days had passed, and Gladion had finally manage to set up a date, despite having been very busy at Aether, which were quite irritating, since he really wanted to go and meet up with her. He planned it as a classic date with dinner, just some regular talk to get to know each other, and possibly wander around at Malie Garden, the date taking place in Malie City. Getting ready and over to Heahea City to pick her up were easy enough, and get over to Malie City were just as easy, thinking that this date would be a ‘walk in the park’, only for it to get awkward when the dinner started, they sat there in silence, just eating. The awkward silence were haunting, making them both feel like this was a mistake, but after that, they got over to Malie Garden, and it started to go more smoothly. Their conversation were mostly about the difference about each region, which was rather a fun thing to talk about, getting to know that he had spent some time in Kalos, studying Kalosian. Walking around in the garden, they sat down on a bench at the Dango shop, just looking around and kept the conversation going. 

«Rather funny that we didn’t met when you were in Kalos. I was always wandering around Lumiose most of my free time.» Luna said, smiling softly.

«Well...I was rather busy studying, and i didn’t really go out much. I just wanted to get the studies over with, and didn’t think to much about my social life at the time...» he replied, sounding rather embarrassed by it.

Luna giggled softly. «Oui oui.~ At least you kept your focus, non?»

«I got my diploma at least, so i guess i did.» he replied, chuckling sheepishly. «How’s the champion life treating you? If i may ask…?»

«I didn’t really plan on taking on the league, but one thing lead to another, and here i am...being the champion of Kalos.» she replied sheepishly.

«Why is that? Isn’t it everyone's goal to take on the league?» he asked.

«For most people i guess, i just didn’t have that goal. Much less, the responsibilities that came running with the title...heh.» she said, chuckling sheepishly. She looked over at him. «You then? Taking on the league to get the title?» she asked.

«I take on the league a couple of times whenever i can. Not really aiming for the title anymore, despite that i did a few years ago.» he said, shaking his head.

«How come you stopped?»

«Priorities changed. As you might already know...Lusamine, the president of Aether, is my mother, so i’ll most likely take over the company at some point.» he replied to her.

Luna hummed softly and nodded. «Je vois...»

Gladion looked over at her from the corner of his eyes, noticing that she smiled softly and giggled all of a sudden. She came to recall the second time they met, and actually had a few words exchanged. He were quite rude and it did seem like he just wanted her gone from the start, at least from the way he replied to her. She just found it charming, as people were never really rude to her in the same way, or did talk back like she were a normal human being, being very tired of hearing the title in front of her name. The blush on Gladion’s cheeks got more red the more he looked at her, and her smile were the main reason, not being able to look away. Managing to look away for a few seconds, he averted his eyes, looking down at the ground. The ended up talking a little more, getting to know each other. He got to know that her father were a Vivillon breeder and researcher, researching the patterns on their wings and travels to the different regions in order to try and find new ones, which Gladion found rather interesting, but even more so when she said that they were living in Snowbelle CIty.

«Snowbelle City? Why in the coldest city in the region?»

«I don’t know. My parents just decided to settle down there and...they are still there.» she replied, chuckling softly. Gladion just nodded, humming softly.

He got on the topic of Diantha, asking why she seemed to dislike her, at least before the meeting that day, her scolding her for leaving without her. Luna explained that Diantha had been out the previous night, and were out a bit too late, knowing fully well that they had that meeting at 11am in the morning. Luna had just decided at the time, after having a short conversation with her on the phone, that if she wasn’t in the lobby in fifteen minutes, she would leave, which she did.

«I don’t really mind. Diantha seem to not like me anyway.» she said, shrugging.

«How come?» he asked, looking curiously at her.

«I don’t know. She just...don’t i guess?»

«Heh...Can relate...somewhat at least.» he replied, talking about his own mother, that were rather strict about things, despite him being a young adult, she would still micromanage everything he did.

They shared a few more stories before Luna got up on her feet, dusting off the skirt she was wearing, saying that she should be getting over to the resort before Diantha flipped all over the place just to find her. Gladion got up on his feet and chuckled lightly, nodding. He told her that he would accompany her over to the resort, it was the least he could do, making sure that she were back ‘home’ safely. She told him that he didn’t need to, but he insisted, which made her smile warmly to him. Taking their leave over to Malie Marine and into the terminal, they got a ticket over to Heahea City, and boarded the ferry, as it was ready to leave rather quickly. They got some seats on the inside, sitting down as the ferry started to leave, the horn going off as an announcement that they were leaving Malie City. On the way over, they both kept looking over at each other, but not at the same time. Luna could tell that she were completely smitten by him, despite not knowing him at all, but she had a good feeling. Gladion were the same, having a warm, fuzzy feeling brewing on the inside, making it a little hard to breathe at times.

The ferry ride over came to an end eventually, and they got off, starting to head over to the resort. She didn’t mind him following her all the way over, despite knowing that the place were straight ahead, at the other end of the main street. She found it very sweet of him, and didn’t complain, feeling much safer as well, being in a different region and all. The walk over seemed long for some reason, despite it only being around five minutes or so. They got over and stopped outside the entrance, Luna turning towards him.

She smiled sweetly and bowed. «Thank you for this evening.» she said.

Gladion bowed back to her. «Hope i didn’t...bore you to death...» he muttered.

«Oh no. I had fun.~» she replied, keeping the sweet smile across her lips.

«Glad to hear so...» he replied back, getting a soft smile on him.

She didn’t think properly when she took a few steps towards him and got up on her tiptoes, giving him a soft kiss on his cheek. «Bonsoir~» she said softly and walked off, heading inside of the main building.

«B-bonsoir...» he stuttered, frozen in his spot. He placed his hand on his cheek, looking in her direction with big, surprised eyes as she entered the building.

_ She kissed me… _

He blushed into a Bounsweet, keeping his hand on his cheek as he turned around, starting to walk off. He knew it was common courtesy in Kalos, but being from Alola, it was rather strange, but he didn’t complain, just being overly surprised. His mind and hear were racing, the feeling of her soft lips lingering on his cheek as he walked off towards Heahea Marine. As he got to the Marine, he stood at the edge for a while, just looking over at the VLFS, which were lit up like a light show in the distance. Turning to look over his shoulder, he looked over to Hano and a soft smile appeared on his lips, ignoring the jumps his heart made when he turned around, walking into the terminal to get a ticket back to Aether. Luna had gotten into the lobby and over to the elevator, waiting for it to arrive and pick her up. As the elevator arrived, she got in, pushed the button for her floor and it started to move upwards. While standing there, she came to realize that she, out of old, Kalosian habit, she gave him a light peck on his cheek. She got horrified, placing her hands on her cheeks in panic.

_ Oh no...what have i done… _

The panic came in interval. He’ll either forgive her and forget through it night, or remember it and avoid her for dear life, not wanting anything to do with her ever again. She kept on like that until she reached her floor, slowly getting out of the elevator and slowly finding her way over to her room. She found the key in her bag before she reached the door to her room, getting it ready, but kept on panicking while walking over. She got to her door, unlocked it and slowly walked in, closing and locking it behind her. She stood there, leaning against the door for a while, just panicking at what she had done until Neige jumped down of the bed, and walked over to her, giving her a soft, worried cry which snapped her out of it.

«Oh...Neige...» she muttered, looking at the pokemon with big eyes. «I think i scared him away for life now...» she muttered to it. The Vulpix just tilted it’s head, not sure what she was talking about.

She eventually got over to the bed and put her bag down, finding her phone and put it on the nightstand. She undid a few buttons on her shirt, and grabbed her PJs, walking into the bathroom to get ready for bed. She slowly stripped it off, and slowly got into her PJs, brushing her hair a little, making sure there was no tangles in it when she got to bed. Getting out and over to the bed, she crawled under the covers, and laid down, just staring up at the ceiling.

«Oh Arceus...» she muttered in panic, placing her hands over her face. «I scared him away...» she added silently, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Not knowing why she were tearing up, she wiped them with the sleeve of her PJs, sniffling lightly. She rationalized it with the panic she felt being the main reason why tears started to form in her eyes. The pokemon got up on the bed and nuzzled into her hand, giving soft cries in an attempt to comfort her. She shot up in surprise when a text arrived on her phone, quickly taking it on hand, wiping her tears away before she opened it. The text were from Gladion, which made her even more upset and scared.

_ Sorry for texting this late… Just wondering if you would like to go out sometime again...?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Luna gasped, and couldn’t believe what she saw. «He don’t hate me...I didn’t scare him away…?» she muttered to herself, looking to her side at Vulpix. It just looked confused at her, tilting its head. She inhaled deeply a few times before replying.

_ That’s alright. I’m still awake….And i would love to go out with you again.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion felt relieved when he got her text back. «Good thing i didn’t scare her away by being overly boring...» he muttered to himself.

Gladion were back at the mansion and in his room, sitting on the edge of the bed as he looked at his phone, debating with himself if he should ask her again, or just wait for the next day. He had written it, but just needed to send it to her, so when he did, he didn’t expect her to reply back, thinking that she had already fallen asleep. Seeing her text, saying that she would love to go out again sometime made him feel amazing, knowing that he didn’t scare her away. He is well aware that many find him scary and unapproachable, yet, there this random, Kalosian girl arrived, and she’s not running away.

_ That’s cool...Umm...i’ll get back to it. Aether and the schedule and such… _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Sure. I’ll be waiting.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Being in their own beds, they both sighed in relief. They both laid down, looking up at the ceiling while holding the phone in their hands, both of their hearts pounding hard and loud in their chests. The marking grew, but this one time, it didn’t sting, but calmly growing, starting to take a small shape, that would eventually grow into something bigger.


	10. Different Route

The next day were starting uneventful. After the first date with Gladion the previous evening, she didn’t have anything planned, but decided to take a look around the island, since she didn’t get around to do that one of the previous days, Diantha keeping her busy with keeping her around her for whatever reason she didn’t understand. Akala were a big island, and she sure wanted to know where to go if needed, as well possibly catch a few new Alolan pokemon if she saw any, and give her pokemon some much needed training while being at it. She had a quick shower, got into her dark blue skinny jeans, and a dark blue short parka jacket, having a tank top under it. She got her bag around her waist and found a pair of sunglasses before she called for the Vulpix, telling it that they would for sure take a look around the island today. The pokemon stood up and stretched itself, followed by a yawn. It jumped down to the floor and hurried over to her. Luna picked it up and held it gently in her arms as she opened the door and walked out into the hallway. Closing and locking the door to her room, she continued down to the elevator, taking it down to the lobby area. As the doors to the elevator opened, and she walked out of it, she noticed Diantha sitting in one of the sitting areas there, talking on the phone. She looked rather agitated and Luna didn’t want to bother her, just walking past her and out of the building.

Once she got outside, she let the pokemon go, letting it walk around on it’s own around her. Walking down the street, watching the Vulpix running around and looking around on its own brought a smile on her face. Walking down the street, she turned the corner towards Tidesong Hotel, and took the turn there, having noticed that Route 4 of Alola was there the last time she was in that area, trying out the Mantine Surfing at the nearby beach. The Vulpix were happily skipping around, sniffing and exploring as it pleased. Walking a little further onto the route, she found the pokeball to her Braixen, calling it out. S it came out, it stretched itself and looked around a little before looking at her, giving a pleasant cry. It greeted the Vulpix that had run over to it, sniffing at the other pokemon curiously.

«Be nice, Neige.» she said to the tiny pokemon. It gave a cry to her and looked up at the other pokemon. «Roussil is my starter, so please be nice.» she added and looked at her pokemon. A purple Braixen, her first pokemon, and also a color variant.

While standing there for a little, letting the two pokemon get to know each other a little, a blonde girl came from around the corner. She noticed Luna as she turned the corner, and smiled widely, knowing exactly who she was. She then noticed the two pokemon around her, and let out a light, excited gasp, which Luna heard and looked into her direction. Her pokemon looking over at the blonde girl cautiously.

The girl placed her hands over her mouth. «Oh! I’m sorry...» she muttered.

Luna smiled sheepishly. «That’s alright.»

She walked up to her. «Is those two your pokemon?» she asked, and looked at them both.

«Oui.» Luna replied, nodding.

«Wow...I have never seen a color variant Braixen before...She’s so beautiful.» she said, smiling sweetly.

«Thank you, and it’s a ‘he’. Roussil is a male.» Luna replied.

«Oh! I’m sorry!» she exclaimed. She smiled sheepishly. «You are...Luna, right? Champion of Kalos?» she asked, looking at her curiously.

«Oui...I am indeed.» Luna muttered.

«Ooh!~ That means you were the one on a date with my brother last evening.~» she said softly, yet sounded very excited about it. «I’m Lillie, Gladion’s younger sister.» she then introduced herself.

«Ah, bonjour.~» she politely greeted her, bowing lightly.

«Did he do a good job? He’s usually very cold and serious looking...» she asked, muttering the latter.

Luna giggled sheepishly. «He did fine...» she replied, not really sure why she were interested, family or not, it wasn’t really anyone's business, but she didn’t want to sound rude.

Lillie continued to ask for a while, but as she looked at her pokemon again, she asked what she would be doing. Luna replied that she were thinking on just taking a look around the route, train her pokemon a little and possibly catch a few new ones. Lillie looked excited and then told her that she could continue up the path, getting over to Paniola Town, and possibly take a look at the ranch there if she wanted to. Luna nodded and did find that a good idea. Lillie then said her goodbye, saying that she had to get home and help out at Aether, since her brother would probably need the help. Luna giggled softly and nodded.

«Bye bye.~» she said, giving her a small wave and left.

Luna waved back lightly, watching her as she disappeared in the distance. With a sigh, she started to walk around the route, seeing if there would be anything that would catch her attention. Not seeing to much of any pokemon, she did have a few battles, letting the Vulpix battle then, while she kept her Braixen in the back, just in case the tiny pokemon needed some help. After a while of battling, the Vulpix were feeling quite drained from energy, and Luna ended up carrying it while walking down the route, ending up at Paniola Town. She did praise the tiny pokemon, which made it feel quite proud.

«You did great, Neige. Good job.~» she said softly, petting it softly. It just gave a content, yet proud cry at her.

Walking into the western looking town, her Braixen were walking closely, looking around cautiously. It was quite the sight, and it had an odd placement, in the middle of Alola. It was like walking into a movie set, it was that surreal to her while passing the buildings there. Seeing a PMC in the distance, she decided to get over there and heal up her Vulpix, seeing that it was quite tired and beaten up. Walking over, she were about to enter when she stopped, seeing Sol, the Alolan champion walk out.

He smiled widely at her. «Oh, hey there, Kalos!» he greeted her.

«Monsieur Sol.» she greeted him, bowing.

Kiawe were behind him, and when he saw the fire pokemon, he jumped out in front of him, hurrying over to the pokemon. The Braixen flinched, and in that moment, it attacked him with  _ Ember _ , setting Kiawe’s hair on fire. Luna gasped in horror, while Sol just sighed in disbelief.

«Roussil!» she said to her pokemon, the creature taking a few steps back, hiding behind her while looking at Kiawe with narrow eyes.

«Don’t worry about it, champ. Kiawe is just...weird like that.» he said. «Leave him be, he’ll be fine.» Sol added.

Kiawe put the fire out after a few pats on his head, and looked over at Sol. «You know her?» he asked.

Sol just nodded. «Well...Somewhat. She’s the champ of Kalos, and it attending the meeting like every other champ at Aether.» he replied, crossing his arms.

«Ooh...» he muttered, looking over at the girl. She had a sheepish smile on her face, apologizing that her pokemon attacked him. Kiawe blushed, finding her really cute, and that she had a fire pokemon, a fire starter as well. He straightened up his posture, brushing the attack off like nothing. «That’s okay.» he said.

Sol just shaked his head, and as he did, Kiawe swung his arm around his shoulders, pulling him with him away a little from her. Luna just looked at the two in confusion, as well as Sol got surprised by him dragging him off a little. «Do you think i have a chance?? She’s really cute...» he said to him in a hushed voice.

«Seriously…?» Sol muttered. «You start to crush on anyone with a fire pokemon. You had a crush on me for a while years back...and it was all because of Incineroar.» Sol said, shaking his head. «And you know...Mr. Edge had the first dibs on that one.» he added, giving him a smirk.

«What?! Why!?» Kiawe exclaimed loudly, loud enough for Luna to hear it and get even more confused.

«That’s life, man. Gladion saw her first, and he needs to get out more.» Sol replied. Kiawe didn’t know how to reply to that, knowing fully well that the last girlfriend Gladion had were quite the toxic one.

«Awww...» he muttered and let Sol go.

Sol ran his hand through his hair and just shaked his head, going back over to Luna. «Sorry about that...» he muttered.

«Oh no...It’s alright.» she said and looked over at him, looking depressed. «Will he be...alright?» she then asked.

«Kiawe will be fine. He’s a fire pokemon trainer, so he’ll get over the  _ Ember _ attack.»

«Okay...I’ll take your word for it.» Luna muttered softly.

Sol nodded and hummed softly. «Anyway...What brings you around these parts? Just looking around?» he asked.

Luna nodded and smiled softly. «Just looking around, yeah.»

«That’s cool. Seen anything interesting as of yet? Beside Gladion.» he said, chuckling lightly.

Luna blushed. «Oh, well...This town looks rather interesting...» she muttered timidly.

Sol chuckled. «It’s an interesting place, i can tell. Looks like it’s taken straight out of a movie.» he replied, looking around while nodding. «I was quite surprised myself the first time as well.»

«First time? You not from Alola?» she asked.

«Nha. Originally from Kanto. Me and my mom moved to Alola years ago.» he said. «It was at the time i started my pokemon adventure here in Alola, meeting up with everyone and taking on the trials.»

Luna had heard about the trials, but didn’t really know what they were and asked. Sol explained that the trials are the gyms of Alola, just a slight difference to them. Instead of battling a gym leader, you battle a  _ Totem Pokemon _ , a pokemon the  _ Trial Captain _ have trained up, getting it quite powerful. He continued with after the battle with the totem pokemon were done, the trainer would get something that is called a  _ Z-Crystal _ , which can help with using  _ Z-Moves _ .

Luna just tilted her head, not really getting the full grasp on it. «Oh, you know...The crystals are like the badges here. Just more useful in the long run.» he said, and dug up for one to show her. «This is a Z-Crystal. It’s called Icium Z, and only pokemon that knows a Ice move can use them, like your Vulpix there.» he said, pointing at the pokemon in her arms.

«Oh...Umm...I guess it’s the same, or similar, concept like the Mega Evolutions?» she replied, trying to figure it out one way she would be able to understand it.

«Yeah, i guess it’s the same concept. I don’t know much about mega evolutions though.» Sol muttered, followed with a sheepish chuckle.

«If that’s so, then i get it. Somewhat at least.» she said, trying to sound cheerfully. Sol just nodded.

Kiawe came over after being done sulking by himself. Sol just shaked his head at him, giving him a blank stare. Sol then suggested that they got into the PMC, seeing that her Vulpix were looking like it needed to get healed up. Luna nodded, while Kiawe didn’t say anything. Getting into the PMC, Luna put her pokemon into their pokeballs and handed them over to Nurse Joy. She placed them on the healing machine and got them healed up and handed them over again to her, thanking her for using the PMC. Luna bowed and took a few steps back, seeing that Sol and Kiawe had placed themselves in the sitting area. Sol waved her over, gesturing for her to join, which she did. While sitting down, Sol asked her about mega evolution, being curious about that, and Luna told what she knew about it. Sol did also tell her about the Z-Moves and handed the Icium Z, telling her that she can keep it, as he had a duplicate of it. Luna found them quite interesting, as they were just as small as the mega stones.

«Thank you. I’m not sure how to use it, but i’ll probably figure it out.» she said.

«Well...You do need a Z-ring first to be able to use them. Like this...uhh...Key stone? Is that’s what it’s called again?» Sol said, muttering a little.

«Yeah, it’s a keystone. And i need this Z-ring to use these...Where can i get one? Do you know a place?» she asked, putting the crystal into her bag.

«You can get the Z-ring from the Kahuna on each island. So on Akala you can get one from Olivia. She’s usually around in Konikoni City, but does take the trip to Heahea City once in a while.»

Luna nodded. «Okay. I’ll see if i can find her.»

«She should be easy to find. But i suggest you take on the trials here first, so you get a few more crystals to use when you get the Z-ring. That’s just a suggestion though. You do as you please.» Sol said, nodding and smiling softly at her.

«I’ll do that then.» Luna replied, smiling sweetly.


	11. Champion Talk

They sat at the PMC for a while, just talking about mega evolution and z-moves. Kiawe handed her the Firium Z before he left, saying that she should just take it. Sol just looked at him with a confused look, but didn’t say anything to him, nor anything about it. Luna were confused, but when Sol told her that he were one of Akala’s trial captains, having his own trial up at Wela Volcano Park, it being a fire one as well.

«Well...that’s one trial ‘done’. You only need Lana and Mallow’s trial on this island before Olivia. Wish i had it that easy...» he said, muttering the latter while looking at Kiawe, who were walking out of the PMC.

«Oh...Okay...Thanks i guess?» she muttered confused, looking at the crystal.

«Don’t worry about it. He’s probably intimidated since you can use mega evolution.» Sol added, chuckling lightly.

«Oooh...I didn’t really want to intimidate him.» she muttered, looking over at the PMC entrance.

«Kiawe will be fine. I’ll talk to him later for you and see if he’s alright.» Sol added, nodding.

«Merci beaucoup.» she said softly, giving him a soft smile.

They talked a little more about mega evolutions, since Sol didn’t really get it as easy as she got the z-moves. He kept pondering about it, not really sure if he did understand it or not. He did have a key stone, that he got from Dexio and Sina years ago, and four mega stones already that he got from Red a few months later, starting to hit up the battle tree. After Luna trying her best to explain it to him, she just smiled sheepishly at him, seeing that he didn’t understand anything.

He groaned. «I don’t get it...Seems like Z-moves is my only thing then...»

«Don’t say that...» she replied, smiling sheepishly at him.

«It’s true though...I’m hopeless...» he groaned, starting to bang his head on the table.

«Non non! Ne dis pas ça...» Luna said to him. She sat back in the chair, thinking hard of a way to actually make him understand it in an easy way. «Hmm...If i put it like this then...» she muttered.

«Huh...» he lightly moaned, looking up at her, keeping his head at the table.

«You need a strong bond with your pokemon for it to be able to mega evolve.» she said, thinking that were as easy as it could get.

«How do i even get a strong bond like that…?» he asked, sitting back up.

She hummed softly. «Kinda like when a pokemon needs high friendship to evolve i guess...That in itself is a strong bond, non?»

«I guess that is a strong bond of sorts. Something like that?» he asked, tilting his head.

Luna nodded. «Oui. You are the Alolan champion, so i guess you have finished the Alolan pokedex, non?» she asked.

«Yeah, i finished it a few months after i became champ. Intense hunting for all the pokemon...That’s actually a lot of pokemon...»

Luna giggled softly. «Well..Knowing that Alola both have the pre evolutions to Lopunny and Lucario, i guess you have both?»

«I do. They are in my PC box.» he said, looking over at the PC. «Hmm...Might as well just get Riolu out, as i do have the Lucarionite back at home.» he muttered.

«It’s a good start. When it evolves, you should be able to sense a strong bond between the two of you, and if it’s strong enough, you’ll be able to mega evolve you pokemon.» she said cheerfully.

«If i happen to do that while you are around, do you mind talk me through it? Like..teach me how to get a better grasp out of it?» he asked.

«Oui, bien sûr.» she replied with a soft smile.

Sol nodded and got up from the chair, heading over to the PC. It took awhile for him to find it, since it had been a while since he had been looking through his boxes, but he eventually found the pokemon and took it out, switching it with one on his team. He then made sure it was fully healed before putting the pokeball into his bag, and walked over to Luna again.

«Alright...Got it out. So i just need to let it evolve, and go from there, yeah?» he asked as he sat down.

Luna nodded. «Oui.» she said softly.

«Alright. I’m getting pumped already. Heh...» he replied, chuckling sheepishly. Luna giggled softly.

Having been able to talk to another champion were quite refreshing, and Sol were easy to talk to. He told her how he met Hau, Lillie and Gladion, but left out the important details like the incident with the Ultra Beasts, and travel to another dimension to save Gladion and Lillie’s mother. Luna were listening carefully, and they ended up sitting there for a while, just chatting and talking, while ordering something to drink and eat. Sol did mention the trouble with Team Skull, which Luna could relate to, mentioning the trouble she ran into when she were having her first adventure in Kalos, bumping into Team Flare.

«Team Flare? The name seems oddly familiar...» Sol muttered.

«Well...Lysandre is the leader of that team, which is probably why. He’s quite the famous man, in Kalos at least.» she replied, taking a sip of the Pinap Juice.

«Aah, the guy that own this...Lysandre Labs? What is that?» Sol asked, not sure if he did remember it correctly.

«Yeah. The owner of Lysandre Labs, and the creator of the Holo Caster in Kalos.» she replied with a smile.

«Yeah...I was right.~» he said, doing a triumphant fistpump.

Talking for a while more, Sol mentioned that Gladion had a Lucario, and Luna mentioned that if he needed help, she would be happy to do so. Sol nodded and said that he should mention it to him the next time he saw him, which he figured would be pretty soon, considering that Gladion did challenge him at times at the league, and were sure that he would show up soon. Luna nodded and smiled softly, sipping on the Pinap Juice. As they finished their drinks, they got out of the PMC. Sol decided to walk with her over to the daycare, and down Route 6, telling her that it was the easiest to get back to the resort that way for her as well. Passing the daycare, he told her a little about the place, and that the opposite way from there was Route 5, and Brooklet Hill, where the water trial by Lana would take place.

«It’s in the opposite direction, and the route is rather straightforward. There is even a PMC close by, so you are able to heal your pokemon before and after the trial.» he said, pointing behind him as they walked down towards Route 6.

«Oh, so it’s just this route, and then continue up ahead?» she asked, looking and sounding rather surprised.

«Yeah. It’s just a straight route.» he said, nodding.

While walking down, he could see why Gladion were smitten by her. She were easy to talk to, had a very soft speech, which put him off at first, considering that she were the champion of Kalos, and she were a pretty girl. She was overly polite, probably because he was champion as well, despite him acting as he always would, weird and usually looking out of place. He didn’t see the importance to hide his true self, but understood why she would be polite, not wanting to put Kalos in a bad image. Walking down the route, they came to the crossroad where they could take the trip over to Royal Avenue. Sol explained that the Battle Dome were there, and it was one of the many things Alola were known for. The Royal Battle’s.

«It’s a rather strange concept, but it’s fun when you get into it. Gladion is pretty good, and frequently goes here to battle. Or at least used to, don’t know as of lately.» Sol said.

«Oh? What’s the battles like?» Luna asked.

«Well...You have three pokemon on your team each round, and you win if you take down three opponent pokemon. Everything is allowed, despite cheating.» he said, laughing softly.

«Sounds easy enough.» she replied lightly.

«Sure sounds like it, but most people who have battled there have done it for years...They are really good. Gladion being one of the ‘champions’ there.»

«Oh really?» she replied in surprise. She didn’t doubt Gladion being a strong trainer.

«Yeah. Oh, by the way!» he exclaimed loudly all of a sudden. «I have asked a few of the other champs to join taking a look at the Royal Battles, and so far some have decided to join. so...Want to tag along?» he asked.

«Sure, i would love it. Knowing it’s close by as well makes it easier to find the place.» she replied with a soft smile. A different type of battles were always interesting, and even if she didn’t join in the battles, she would at least take a look and see the entire thing for herself, possibly learn something from it.

«Sweet. I know Lillie, Gladion’s sister, is going to tag along, so i’m sure she’ll keep you company if you want it.» she added.

«Oui. Ça ne me dèrange pas.» she said sweetly with a soft smile.

Sol nodded and gave her a thumbs up. «Don’t know what you said, but alright.~» he chuckled.

Following her down the route, and over to the grand resort. They parted ways, and went to each of their own. Luna had taken a good look around, and decided to take it easy the rest of the day, letting her Vulpix get some rest after it all, as it had gotten pretty beaten up. Gladion had been incredibly busy at Aether, doing paperwork that Faba should have been doing, but left the work alone while, as usual, ‘attend some business’ as he liked to call it, whatever that was. He were also looking through a few documents regarding the meeting, and while doing so, his mind kept going over to Luna, getting a faint blush on his cheeks whenever she came to mind. It was quite annoying in the long run, as he had work to do, but couldn’t help it. He sat back in the chair, and let out a deep, loud sigh.

_ Stop thinking about her!!... _

He rubbed his temples, letting out another deep sigh. «By Arceus...I can’t focus like this...» he growled to himself.

While sitting there, groaning silently to himself, Sol eventually sent him a text, asking if he would join him at the Battle Dome after the meeting in two days. Gladion didn’t want to reply, trying to get back to focus on the papers in front of him.

_ Kalos champ is tagging along. _ **_\- Sol_ **

As quickly he saw the message, he didn’t know what to reply, just staring at the message for a while. Deep inside, he wanted to go just to see her, but then it would be a problem, since he knew he had some work at Aether to do after that meeting. Debating with himself, he decided to reply with that he had to wait for the day and see what would happen.

_ Have to wait for the day to see if i can go...Like usual, i’m most likely helping out at Aether after that meeting.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Aw man...You ain’t fun. She seemed interested, and knowing that you know A LOT about those types of battles, it would be a better for you to tell her about it.  _ **_\- Sol_ **

_ Don’t make it harder for me, Sol…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Haha! What’s so hard about it? You sitting behind a desk, looking at some papers, or you out with us, looking at a pretty girl? Your choice on that, man.  _ **_\- Sol_ **

«Damn it, Sol...» he growled to himself. He knew he was right in a way. He’d much rather be around and try to get to know her than sit around at Aether behind a desk, getting irritated and most likely regret not going.

_ I’ll...see what i can do…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Shit...now he got what he wanted… _

While sitting there, he could imagine Sol just looking proud and victorious. He knew he had to just work extra hard and possibly overtime until the day of the next meeting, making sure that he actually could take the day off and join.


	12. Looked it Up

Gladion were sitting in the office, looking over documents as usual. Sol and Lillie were around as well, and tried to get him away from the papers, wanting him to join them. He kept telling them to be quiet and let him work, not mentioning that he did overwork himself on purpose, wanting to get as much as possible done until they day that he would join Sol and a few other champions at the Royal Dome. Sol were just grinning at him, which made him uncomfortable and uneasy.

«Stop looking at me like that!» Gladion hissed at him. «I’m trying to work!»

«Heh..? You sure you ain’t  _ busy _ ?» Sol replied, wiggling his eyebrows at him. Gladion were growling to himself, and ready to throw him out any second.

Lillie just rolled her eyes. «Leave him alone...You’ll just get him more grumpy.» she said.

«Heh...True.» Sol said. He looked over at her, seeing that she were reading something. «And what are you reading, Lillie?»

She looked up at him, and smiled. «Oh, just something about soulmates.»

«Soulmates? You believe in that stuff?» Sol asked.

«I don’t know. It’s just interesting.» she replied sweetly, looking down into the book again.

«Can’t believe you actually read that stuff...» Gladion added quickly. Sol just nodded.

She looked up at him and had a small pout on her face. «I just find it interesting... Okay?»

Gladion just waved his hand at her. «Yeah yeah...Whatever.» he said, keeping his eyes on the papers in front of him.

«What’s so interesting about it?» Sol then asked her.

«Well...first off. There are so many ways to ‘see’ or ‘find’ your soulmate. It’s just interesting really.» she said, smiling sweetly.

«What’s the most interesting one? Since you did say there was several ways.» Sol asked, shifting the position he sat in, getting a little more comfortable while muttering that he hated the chairs at Aether, them being like rocks to sit on.

Lillie giggled and nodded. «Sure...What do you want to hear about? I’ll just read from the book. There is one about words, one about flowers, one about items...» she started, planning to tell them every single one of the different ones.

«Uuh...Flower one? It seems and sounds more possible.» Sol replied, interrupting her before she could finish.

«Alright. Flower one...» she muttered and skipped a few pages, going to find it. She found something, but found out there was two different types of the ‘flower’ one. «Umm...There are two different types of it...which one of those? The one that is literally a flower, like…’here is a flower’ or the other one, which seems to be about a marking of some sort?»

Gladion were about to tell them off before Sol got in before him. «Marking one, please.» Sol replied to her. Gladion just sighed and shaked his head, which made Sol laugh lightly. Lillie looked excited and started to read from the book to them.

_ Usually, where you and your soulmate first touched, there will appear something like a bruise on that spot. That’s called a seed, and it will slowly, and sometimes, painfully grow until it’s a full bloomed flower. It will grow whenever you might think of your soulmate, or whenever you two are interacting. The other person, who is your soulmate, will also have this marking and experience the same symptoms. In rare cases, it might only happen to one at a time. _

«That sounds like complete utter nonsense...and bullshit.» Gladion said.

Lillie scoffed and looked over at him with puffy cheeks. «Just let me finish, okay? Sheeze...»

_ However, your soulmate might not be your soulmate. He or she might have one, but for a different person, and is quite rare. _

«Now that’s just depressing. You found your soulmate, only to, maybe, realize that he or she is not your soulmate...aw man, that gotta suck.» Sol said, interrupting her.

«Sol...I’m not done.» she whined, followed by a groan.

Sol chuckled. «Sorry...» he muttered, shrugging.

_ The flower that’s growing on you is your soulmate’s ‘name’. The flower represents their name in real life, one way or another. It might be hard to figure out, but when the marking is fully bloomed, you should be able to see the one on your soulmate as well. If you do, take the opportunity to ask and talk. In short, clear the air between the two of you. _

Gladion scoffed, finding it ridiculous. «Like i said...Bullshit.»

«Shut up and keep your nose in those papers, brother! Ugh!» she hissed, followed by a growl. Gladion just scoffed at her and got silent again, starting to ignore the two in front of him, but were secretly listening, just to make sure if she ever asked him if he actually did listen or not.

Sol laughed. Lillie were glaring at him, to which Gladion were looking up and sent her a glare back. While they kept on keeping their eyes locked on each other, she narrowed her eyes, but Sol broke it for them by asking Lillie where Hau were, as he didn’t managed to get a hold of him earlier.

Lillie looked up and sat back in the chair, closing the book. «I think he’s with Mallow.» she said.

«Mallow?» the two asked in union, looking at her with big eyes.

«Yeah. Mallow had asked him to try out some of her new recipes, and you all know how much Hau loves food.» Lillie said, smiling sheepishly.

«Rather weird...Hau’s usually always around when i’m mentioning that you are around.» Sol said, shrugging. «I guess that crush died quickly then...» he added silently to himself.

«Meh...I don’t know. Mallow asked apparently and he said yes to help out.» she said, shrugging.

While sitting there, Sol mentioned that Luna would help to archive mega evolution, which caught Gladion’s attention. Sol continued with that he had to make his Riolu evolve first, and that in itself would most likely take a long time. Gladion smirked softly, as he already had a Lucario and were, for once, a head of the Alolan champion on something pokemon related.

«I’m sure Hau would love this soulmate stuff though.» Lillie added, giggling lightly.

«Hau is into whatever you are into...It’s kinda creepy actually...» Gladion said.

Sol nodded. «Gotta agree with Gladion on that...Hau is cool and all...but he’s into whatever you are into, Lillie.»

«Oh? Haven’t really noticed.» Lillie replied, looking quite confused and surprised.

«Of course you haven’t...» Gladion sighed, shaking his head. Sol laughed softly.

* * *

Luna had been tagging alongside Diantha in Heahea City, doing some shopping, or rather, watch Diantha do some shopping. Luna didn’t need anything, but were tagging along in case she would find something interesting. Walking around, Luna started to get tired, not really used to walk around and do some shopping. She usually knew what she wanted or needed, making it easier to get whatever that was. Diantha did look quite happy, looking at fancy clothes. She were also looking rather chipper, and whenever Luna asked, she just dismissed it, saying that she just needed something new and loved the Alolan fashion. Luna just nodded and sighed softly and kept on following after her. After a while, they were sitting down at a cafè, having something to eat and restore some energy, as it did seem like Diantha weren’t done yet.

«Why ain’t you getting anything, Luna? We are in Alola after all, and you definitely should get something from here.» she said, taking a sip of her drink.

«I just haven’t found anything that caught my attention yet. Why am i even here…?» she asked, sighing lightly.

«Because i wanted you to tag along, and not sit around in your room.» she said proudly.

«I could have taken on a trial challenge here...So i would have had something to do.» she replied, shaking her head.

«Oh? The trials of Alola? Why are you taking them on? Are they even that interesting…?» Diantha asked, not really looking at her, but found the trials rather weird and unwanted by the rest of the world.

«They sound interesting, and i want to at least give them a try. They are Alolan ‘gyms’...so to speak.» she replied.

Diantha shrugged. «If that’s what you find interesting, then by all means.» She said, not sounding impressed.

Luna just sighed softly, knowing fully well that Diantha found the trials of Alola quite weird and out of the ‘normal’ in her standards. Luna found it interesting and unique. A region that had its own thing outside the traditional gyms were quite rare and far between. While Diantha were sitting there, sipping on her drink, Luna got a message on her phone, and quickly took it up to take a look.

_ Sol mentioned that you could help with the mega evolution?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ I mentioned that i could, but he still need to evolve his pokemon, non?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Well..Yeah, he does. He’s still working on that.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Monsieur Sol also said that you already have a Lucario?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Yeah, i do. Why?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Do you want to learn how to mega evolve your pokemon?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

As he looked at the message, been taking a break for a few minutes, he were planning to ask if she could help him get closer to the mega evolution stuff, but didn’t expect that she would bring it up herself. Not sure how to go forward with that, he kept himself silent, just carefully thinking of what to reply to her. After a few minutes, he finally replied to her.

_ Would be useful in battles i guess…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Bien sûr.~ It can be quite useful if used right at least.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ I..uh...We can talk more about it after the next meeting. Is that alright?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Oh! Sol did invite me over to the Battle Royale after that meeting. You tagging along?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ I guess. I will most likely not take part in any battles there though.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ That’s okay. Pokemon needs a break to sometimes.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ I’ll see you at the meeting and after the meeting that day then…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Oui. Je te vois là-bas alors.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion groaned lightly, as he had now said that he would be there, and now he had to follow up on that. Looking around the office a little, he put the phone away and got back to working on the papers, wanting to get as much as possible done. Now they had an unofficial date scheduled, he at least had to be there, and see what she had to say about helping him achieve mega evolution with his pokemon.

«Hopefully i’ll get a grasp of that before you, Sol...» he muttered, looking at the door in front of him.

Sol and Lillie left a few minutes earlier before he gave Luna a message, knowing that he was alone and that the two couldn’t ask, nor see who he texted. Knowing those two, Lillie would have been squealing like a Seel, and Sol would most likely sound like Snubbul when laughing. At least Gladion found him sounding like that. Utterly annoying and obnoxious. He let out a light sigh, looking down at the papers again. He were almost done with the day’s batch, so if he started on the other, he had a small chance to get it all done before the meeting tomorrow, which was his goal for now.

_ Get done, and meet up with Luna after the meeting. _

Luna were lightly giggling while sitting at the cafè with Diantha. Diantha noticed the faint blush on her cheeks when she looked down at her phone, but didn’t see anything. She only noticed that the champion had eyes for something else, or rather.  _ Someone else. _ Diantha smiled softly, feeling happy for her. She finished the drink she had, and Luna finished hers, and the food item she had gotten herself. Getting up from the chairs, they started to look around more, and Luna did eventually find something that caught her attention and got it. A black dress with red accents on it. She didn’t know why, it just caught her attention and she liked it, deciding to get it, and would possibly be a nice date outfit. Diantha found a whole lot more, and kept on going, at least until Luna got so tired of it that she told her that she were leaving. Diantha didn’t say anything, but just nodded, humming softly as a reply. Luna left and got back to the resort, planning to use the rest of the day at the beach, just laying around and let her pokemon have some free time, having fun in the water. As she got up to her room, she hung up the new dress and changed out of her casual clothes, getting into her swimwear and putting on her light summer dress before grabbing her bag with her pokemon again, and leave for the beach.


	13. Royal Avenue

Sitting at the meeting the next day, which was early that day. Gladion had been up quite early, just to get done the last few documents so he could be free for the rest of the day. The meeting were already going, and Lusamine were giving them some answers that they had asked, and she replied to the best of her ability at the time, saying that there is more to come. She did also apologize for it taking so long, but that was the main reason why she sent out a notice for everyone to make sure they could have the time off of the league and be in Alola for a while. Staying around if necessary and if Lusamine needed to talk to each of them privately. Luna were sitting opposite of Gladion again, taking notes for questions that she got under the meeting, and Gladion did glance over at her quite often, which Sol noticed and couldn’t help himself to just grin for himself, feeling quite proud that he managed to give Gladion the little push he needed to actually start dating someone again. From what Lillie had told him and Sol about soulmates the previous day, Gladion didn’t manage to get it out of his mind. As much as he didn’t care, what she said stuck like glue. He looked over at Luna, and started to wonder, but quickly shook his head lightly, shaking the thought out of his mind.

_ There is no way...We recently met… _

He got a little lost in thought, which Sol noticed and nudged him lightly, giving him a mischievous smirk. «Why the long face?» he whispered over to him.

«None of your business.» he replied.

Sol just chuckled. Lillie did read more about it the previous day, telling them that  _ whenever you thought about your soulmate, the marking would start to sting _ , which was one of the most secure ways to figure out who it was. Gladion thought about it, and unconsciously thought about her, which, to his surprise, made the marking on his chest hurt. He flinched slightly from it, feeling it run up to his shoulder, and down his back, stopping on his shoulder blade, the light sting lingering for a few seconds. As it did hurt, he quickly looked over at her, but just as quickly looked away again, swallowing thickly.

_ Shit… _

Slowly looking over to her again, he saw that she were scribbling down some notes while Lusamine were talking. She looked quite concentrated, listening carefully. She had braided her hair today, letting the braid rest on her shoulder gently, wearing a red outfit. Red shirt with a tie, fitted with a waistcoat, some grey pants and some long track boots, as well as her red fedora, with the black feather accessory attached to it.

_ Does she have a marking…? _

Thinking through what Lillie did tell, he came to remember the last thing she said, which was  _ if the two found each other, they would be able to see each others marking after a while _ , and that made him utterly curious. Getting lost in thought about it, he didn’t notice a light flinch on her side. She had looked over at him once, and when she looked down, a faint blush appeared on her cheeks, and shortly after, a stinging pain on her back, trailing from the back of her shoulder to her front, making her flinch slightly. She masked it quite well, not wanting to get any attention, as well as she were sitting in a meeting. It would just be out of place to suddenly look hurt. After a while, Lusamine finished talking and asked if there was any questions to what she had been telling them. There was a few questions, but they were minor, and Luna could tell that some of the champions and the former ones were starting to rethink this entire project. As the current champion of the region, they were the ones that had to accept the experimental project and go for it, while the former champs had to support them one way or another.

«Alright. I’ll let you know when the next is, but it should be pretty soon.» she said and started to gather her documents. «Any questions?» she asked.

«Are we going to accept abandoned pokemon?» Lucas, champion of Sinnoh asked.

«All pokemon are welcome. So, yes. We will accept abandoned pokemon, and help them to either find a new trainer or prepare them for the wild again.» Lusamine replied.

«Alright. Just thought i should bring that up since it’s a growing problem in Sinnoh.» he said, and then looked around the table. «I guess that’s a growing problem in the other regions as well...» he added.

Cynthia nodded. «It’s a massive growing problem. It would be for the best to get those pokemon in a safe environment than just straight out into the wild.» she added.

Lusamine nodded. «I can understand that. Something we definitely need to work on, but abandoned pokemon are always welcome.»

A few from Luna’s pokemon were some that had been abandoned by their trainer, most of them being from different breeding programs, getting bred up for specific battles. They were also of the color variant type, but were discarded since they didn’t have the desired stats and then left to defend themselves. Whenever, after her main adventure in Kalos, found such a pokemon, she took her time to approach them, the creatures being quite scared and terrified, which was understandable. Lusamine added a few more words of information on the matter, which snapped Luna out of her thoughts. People then started to get up from their chairs and head out to the hallway. Some were staying behind, waiting for Sol to get around. Ruby and Gold were the ones that would tag along, while Lucas and Nate were going to hang around their mentors, as they had things they felt they needed to discuss with them. Sol whined lightly, but nodded.

«That’s okay. Some other time i guess?» he said. Nate and Lucas just nodded, and then left it at that, walking off.

«Why the long face?» Gladion asked, repeating what he had asked him while the meeting was going on.

«Ha ha. You are so funny, funny Glad. I’m dying..» he replied in pure sarcasm. Gladion just rolled his eyes and shaked his head. «I need to get to the league first, so i’ll meet y'all at the Royal Avenue after a few minutes. Making sure that the elite four is taking the day off and not standing there, waiting for me to arrive.» he added, giving him a salute and walked off.

Luna walked out, and stopped in the hallway, not really sure what to do, but seeing that Gold and Ruby were walking, off, she decided to just head over to the Royal Avenue. Gladion watched her walk off, feeling rather scared after he had the stinging pain a few moments earlier. 

* * *

Luna got back to the resort first, making sure that she had her team and other things, just in case she decided to join one of the battles after watching for a while. After a few minutes, she left her room and headed down to the lobby, planning to get over to the Royal Avenue. Heading to the lobby, there was a familiar face hanging around, though, she didn’t notice and passed them, keeping her focus on getting over to the Battle Dome, and hopefully see some of the others that would also be there. The person she passed noticed her, but didn’t say anything, not did they do anything to get her attention, but just watched her carefully as she walked out of the main entrance.

«Well...Look who’s here…?» they said, a mischievous smirk grown on their lips.

Luna got out and started to walk down the street, finding Route 6, which was right by the resort, and remembering correctly, it was just straight ahead, and she would end up at the cross road leading to Royal Avenue. She was looking forward to it, knowing it was a new, and quite different way of battling with pokemon. Definitely something she would watch, and possibly try out sometime. On the way there, she saw Ruby and Gold in front of her, heading the same way. Seemed that they had been at their room and got changed before heading over. Gold noticed that she were behind them, and stopped, which made Ruby stop as well.

He waved at her. «Hey there, champ.» he greeted her with a big grin.

«Bonjour.~» she greeted back with a soft smile as she walked up to them.

«You going to take part in those battles or just going to watch?» Ruby asked.

«I think i’ll watch a few first, and then decide later if i’ll take on a few or not.» she said, chuckling sheepishly. «I just feel it’s better for both me and my pokemon. No use to dive head first and risk my team getting hurt.» she added.

Gold nodded. «Understandable. My main team is at home, beside my starter, which is always with me.» Gold said.

«Same. Wanted to see if i could train up a second team while i’m here, so i have some changes. My main team looks rather tired of the same surroundings.» Ruby said, nodding as well.

«Same thought you had, Kalos?» Gold asked.

«I was thinking more of catching some Alolan pokemon if i could.» she replied.

«You got one already.» Ruby added, pointing at her Alolan Vulpix in her arms.

Luna chuckled softly. «Oui.»

They had a few more words before heading over to Royal Avenue, getting into the PMC there to heal up their team. Since Luna weren’t going to partake in the battles right away, if ever at this point, she didn’t heal her current team. Walking out of the PMC, Sol then arrived on a Charizard, landing in front of the PMC. As he arrived, Hau and Lillie turned the corner. Lillie hurried over to Luna, asking her the same questions as Gold and Ruby, to which Luna replied with the same. Lillie then mentioned to Sol that Gladion had a few more things to do before he would be able to join in with the battles, which Sol nodded at.

«Kinda predicted that already.» Sol sighed. «As long as he gets here when he’s done, then it’s all good.» he added with a smile. «Alright...Y’all ready?»

They all nodded and got over to the Battle Dome. Hau decided to join in some battles, wanting to see if he could take down some of the champions from the other regions in something he was familiar with. Getting into the lobby area, Lillie and Luna found their way up to the sitting area,finding themselves a seat to watch from. Sitting down, having a few words before the lighting around the arena turned down, and the host starting to hype up the crowd. Luna flinched a little, finding it a bit to loud than what she would like. The participants got onto the area, and got their names called out, the host hyping it up by calling out Sol, him being the champion of the region. The others around him just rolled their eyes while Hau laughed. Sol just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The battle started, and it didn’t take to long, as Ruby and Gold had no idea what they were doing, but they had fun, that was apparent at least. Luna found the battles were interesting, but not her kind of battle, so she decided that she would just be watching for the rest of the day.

The boys took a few more rounds, Gold and Ruby wanting to try and get at least one win each before walking out, deciding to get something to eat. Lillie and Luna left for Lush Jungle, since Luna mentioned that she wanted to take on the trials on the island, and possibly get a Z-Ring in order to use the crystals she got. Lillie got excited for her, and told her that she could accompany her on the way over to the trial site, watching while she were taking the trial on. Lillie also mentioned that she could call Mallow, the trial captain, and ask if she was around there, if not, she had to hurry up because a challenger were approaching. Luna just giggled softly and nodded, letting her join and show her the way over, not being familiar with the island. They walked outside of the Dome and stopped outside the Malasada shop there, telling the others that they would take their leave for a while. They nodded and watched them walk off, Lillie partially dragging Luna with her.


	14. Royal Dome

Gladion eventually got over after a while, the others were sitting outside the PMC, just chatting about each other's many responsibilities. Hau were sitting there silently, munching on a malasada and listened to them talk. Hau leaned forward a little, seeing that Gladion were walking up to them, looking as serious as usual. Sol noticed Hau were looking off behind him and turned around, seeing the blonde approach silently.

«Hey...You actually arrived?» he said, grinning widely.

«In the end at least.» he lightly growled. He looked around a little, not seeing any of the girls that Sol did tell him were joining them. «The others are where?» he asked, not wanting to sound like he only got there for Luna.

«Nate and Lucas had their own things to do.» he replied, shrugging. «And Lillie and Luna took the trip over to Lush Jungle. Seems like Kalos is taking on the trials of Akala.» he added.

«Right...» he muttered. He looked over at Hau, who continued to much on the malasada, giving him a small wave as a greeting. «How can you even eat those all the time…?» he asked. Hau were about to reply, but Gladion interrupted him. «Don’t answer that actually...»

Hau just rolled his eyes and nodded. «Whatever, Gladion.» he muttered with food in his mouth. Sol just laughed, and the two others were chuckling lightly.

Gladion stood there beside Sol, listening to what were being said, and as they stood there, Lillie and Luna turned the corner, Ruby being the one seeing them first. «Girls are back.» he said, looking over at their direction.

Lillie seemed even more excited than before, while Luna looked like her usual self, from what the others had seen at least. She kept talking about how impressed she was on how she handled the battle and the trial overall, considering that she didn’t know what it was or how it worked in the first place. Gladion tried so hard not to look over at them when they came walking over. The two stopped in between Sol and Gladion, greeting everyone and Lillie starting off telling how Luna handled the trial. Sol were rather impressed, but didn’t know much of the trials himself when he first got to Alola years back. Standing there, talking and listening to the chatter, Lillie got a call from professor Burnet, and took it quickly. She walked off a little, wanting to talk in private as she didn’t want to let Gladion, Sol or Hau know that she were helping Burnet out with something at the Dimension lab, only that she were interested in whatever research she had done, and would let her take ‘part’ in. She gasped loudly, and said that she would hurry over.

«I’ll let the others know that i’m leaving, and i’ll be right there! Just wait for me, please!» she said. Lillie hung up and hurried over to the others. «I’m sorry...but i’ll be leaving. Professor Burnet have done some research that i’m interested in, and would like to take a look at it...» she muttered softly.

«Aww, you leaving?» Sol muttered in a sad tone, giving her a fake pout.

«Sorry Sol...» she replied with a sheepish smile. «I’ll see how quick it is, and how much it is. If it’s very little, i might get back here later.»

«I’ll be taking my leave too. Steven wanted to look around the Diglett’s Tunnel, so i’m just tagging along. Kinda want to see if i find something in there as well though.» Ruby added.

Gold said something similar, but he were just tired of the battles and wanted a break, but didn’t want to sound like that, as well as he had heard that Red and Blue were around in Alola somewhere, so he also wanted to find them. Sol sighed softly, and looked over at Gladion.

«This is your fault...»

Gladion looked at him and narrowed his eyes. «And why is that exactly? You asked me to get here after all.»

«When you arrived just now, everyone is leaving...» Sol added.

The others were starting to laugh, which made Sol start grinning, and laugh as well. Gladion didn’t find it funny, but as he looked around, and over at Luna, who were giggling softly, he gained a faint blush on his cheeks, scoffing. Lillie then said her goodbye and left, as well as Ruby and Gold did the same. Luna sayed around for a little longer, wanting to take a look at the battles a little more in the Dome. Sol asked her if she were staying around, which she nodded at, telling him that she wanted to watch a little more, just to try and wrap her mind around it. Hau and Sol nodded, deciding to take part in a few more rounds. Gladion told them that he would watch a little himself, making sure that he knew who his opponents most likely would be.

«You cheating now?» Sol asked, crossing his arms.

«More like setting up a strategy.» he replied, giving him a mischievous smirk.

Sol groaned. «Ugh...Whatever. You ain’t winning over me anyway.» Gladion just rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

Sol and Hau got their pokemon healed at the PMC before they all headed over to the Royal Dome. Getting into the lobby, Sol and Hau got themselves registered for the next battles and got inside. Gladion and Luna got up to the seating area, getting some seats while waiting for the Battle Royal to begin. Luna kept looking around the arena, watching the many people that arrived to sit down to watch the next Royal Battle. There was some talk about the ‘Masked Royal’, who was someone Luna had no idea who were.

Looking over at Gladion, who looked like he were lost in though. «Who’s the ‘Masked Royal’?» she asked.

Gladion looked over at her, meeting her eyes for a brief second, but quickly averted them down to the arena. «It’s the strongest trainer around here.» he replied, trying to hide the blush that came creeping up to his cheeks.

«Oh. Like...The Royal Battle champion?» she added.

«Yeah, something like that.» he replied. Luna hummed softly and nodded, looking down at the arena again. «Soo...» he started, which caught her attention. «How do i archive mega evolution?» he asked, but quickly regretted bringing the topic up.

«Well...It’s hard to say since i don’t know how well you and your pokemon work together.» she replied softly.

Gladion looked down at the arena. «Should a battle like that give you any clues?» he asked, nodding down to the arena.

Luna looked down and nodded, smiling sweetly. «I would at least be able to observe.» she replied. «But i find it better if the battle is against me. It’s easier to focus that way...for me at least.» she added.

Gladion hummed softly. «There is a battlefield at Aether, and it’s usually empty...Could use that...» he muttered lightly.

Talking a little back and forth on it, they came to agree that they would do the training at Aether, it being close to people and if something were to go wrong, there would be easy to get help. They also agreed on starting the next day, since he had finished most of the paperwork that Faba should be doing, he had more time to kill.

* * *

After Sol and Hau had a few battles, Gladion joined in, taking on a few rounds. Hau had a few more, but left after Hala contacted him, asking for some assistance by keeping an eye on the Skull’s, which he agreed to do. As Hau left, Luna decided to take on a few, just to try it out for once. She didn’t have any plans on doing so, but it’s a good change for her pokemon, wanting them to try out something new. She registrated her Lopunny, Braixen and Sylveon, getting them healed up before getting out in the corner she would be in. Gladion and Sol were around as well in the ones she were in, as well as the Masked Royal appeared a few times. Luna did tell the two that they shouldn’t hold back just because she’s never done a Battle Royal before, which they nodded.

«Don’t expect me to go easy on a champion, Kalos.» Sol said with a smirk.

«It’s the Battle Royal. We can’t really do anything else than to go full out. At least if the Masked Royal is around.» Gladion added.

«Prof. Kukui is good...though i’m surprised no one knows it’s him.» he said, laughing. Gladion just nodded.

«Kukui?» Luna muttered softly, looking rather confused.

«Yeah. Alola’s own pokemon professor. He’s also the Masked Royal, though...It seems that people are pretty oblivious to that fact.» Sol said, shrugging.

«I’m sure people know, but they just don’t address it. He’s also telling anyone who recognise him that he’s not who you think he is. It goes both ways even.» Gladion said.

«Soo...If he’s the Masked Royal today, and people call him professor, he’ll just dismiss that?» Luna asked.

Sol and Gladion nodded. «Yupp. That’s how it goes most of the time.» Sol said, laughing. «He’s cool though.» Luna nodded, and couldn’t really say much on the matter, not knowing the professor like they did.

As the Battle Royal were about to start, they all got in and parted ways for their corners. Luna were a little anxious, not sure where to go, but got to her corner when her name were called up, going into the blue corner. Her competitiveness started to kick in, which could be a bummer at times, having to remind herself that it was just for fun, and not a real competition, which made her look nervous instead. Gladion, standing in the red corner, noticed that she were looking rather nervous, same did Sol from the green corner, telling her that she should relax.

«It’s just for fun.» he told her, grinning widely at her and gave her a thumb up. Luna nodded and gave him a sweet smile.

The fourth challenger in the arena were as Sol and Gladion predicted, it being the Masked Royal. The two just chuckled softly at the sight of him, after telling Luna who he actually was. The Masked Royal sent out his Incineroar, Gladion sent out his Umbreon and Sol sent out his Lycanroc. Luna took a good look at the pokemon before she sent out her Sylveon. As they all started to attack, Luna ordered her Sylveon to use Protect first, just to observe the first round. It looked easy, but she were still very unsure about it all. Seeing attacks getting thrown around, she decided to give it a go.

_ No good on just standing here to watch… _

«Sylveon! Use  _ Dazzling Gleam _ !» she ordered her pokemon.

The pokemon gave a soft cry, and released a bright, sparkling light from its body, hitting the other three pokemon in the area, making two of them faint from it, them being weak to the fairy type attack. The Masked Royal called back his pokemon, letting out a midday Lycanroc, and Gladion sent out his Crobat. Sol stood there with a grin on his face, feeling closer to a victory than ever, but were still very cautious over Luna, not knowing what moves she would pull. The battle kept on going for a while, and Sol ended with the victory. After it ended, they got out in the lobby, both Sol and Gladion rather impressed how she held up in the battle, it being her first.

«Well that was a blast. Been a while since the Royal’s have been fun.» Sol said, stretching his back. He looked over at Luna, and smiled warmly to her. «Did you have fun? It being your first Battle Royal after all.»

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Oui. It was rather...interesting.»

Sol moved over to Gladion and nudged him. «She even managed to beat you, Royal champ.~» he murmured.

Gladion just sent him a glare. «And your point is…?» he hissed at him.

«Oh, you know.~» he replied, smirking at him.

Gladion narrowed his eyes at him. «You better shut up real quick,  _ champ _ ...» he growled at him.

Sol raised his hands up in front of him in defeat. «And that’s my cue to leave.» he said, laughing. Luna chuckled softly.

They went to heal their pokemon and decided to leave. Sol had league duties in the morning, and had a few other errands to do before the day was over. Gladion didn’t have anything to do, other than to prepare himself mentally for the next day, but didn’t say anything. Walking out of the avenue, the two walked with Luna until the main street, watching her walk off towards Hano Grand. As the two walked off as well, they stopped by the Dimension Lab, seeing if they would find Lillie there, which they didn’t, only getting a reply that she left an hour ago. Sol kept teasing him about Luna, seeing the growing blush on his face, but also the growing annoyance, which made the Alolan champion just laugh, finding it hilarious. Before Gladion could do anything about the champion, Sol paged a Charizard, saying his goodbye and then flew off on the pokemon. Gladion just watched him fly off as he continued to the Marine, getting a ticket and waiting for the ferry to get over to the VLFS.


	15. Lesson #1

The next day, Luna arrived at Aether as she and Gladion had agreed on. She stood around the docks for a few seconds before walking over to the elevator, pushing the button for up, as he had told her to do, getting up to the entrance area. She had prepared her Lopunny for the training, putting on the mega stone on it and healed it before taking the ferry over to the VLFS. Standing on the elevator, the railings got up and it started to move upwards, and in mere seconds, she found herself in the entrance area. Looking around a little before stepping off, she placed her in a corner, being out of the way for the employees and the many tourists that were wandering around, having tours. She kept looking around, not noticing that Gladion were approaching.

«Luna...?» he called for her gently.

She flinched and turned towards him. «Oui?» she said, having a mixture of confused and surprised on her face.

Seeing her surprised expression stunned him, finding it hard to say anything. «The battlefield is this way...» he managed to mutter out, turning around and started to walk off.

_ Why is she like this…? _

He had a growing blush on his face, and tried to hide it, finding her expression cute. Luna nodded and followed after him, starting to walk down the corridor to the side. Luna were walking a little behind him, and kept looking around a little, despite there not be anything to see other than white walls. She eventually looked up in front of her, getting her eyes locked on him. From what she had observed from him before were that he were slightly toned, considering his broad shoulders at least. Averting her gaze quickly, only to look back at him shortly after, getting a faint blush on her cheeks. They had been on one date as for now, and she were still, somewhat, waiting for another one, but as he were working at Aether, she knew it most likely would take a while before he were free.

_ Unless this counts as a date… _

She became beet red, getting conscious about her outfit which definitely wasn’t ‘date appropriate’. She shaked her head, trying to sake the blush and the warm feeling that crept onto her face away. She had put on her pair of green skinny jeans, green short parka and black sneakers, as well as her black bag with her pokemon and items in it. Definitely not ‘date appropriate’ she kept thinking while walking down the corridor.

«The battlefield is just a little further down...» he said, snapping her out of it. She nodded and hummed as a reply, not what to say.

Walking down a little further, Gladion stopped in front of a door and opened it, letting her walk in first. She passed him, giving him a sweet smile and walked into the field, getting surprised that there was a battlefield this massive on this VLFS. She kept looking around with big eyes as he closed the door and walked up to her side.

«Not what you expected?» he asked.

«Oui...Well...» she muttered softly. «I’m not sure what i expected to be honest. Certainly nothing like this, that’s for sure.» she added, looking around the place.

As she kept looking around, he kept his eyes on her, showing a soft smile. If Sol had been around, he would definitely had made fun of him for smiling, saying something that would certainly embarrass him. Luna then turned towards him, which made him stop smiling quite quickly.

«Do you have a keystone?» she asked lightly.

«Got one from Dexio and Sina years back when i was in Kalos.» he replied.

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Oui oui...Mega stone?»

«Lucarionite?» he replied dryly.

«Formidable.~» she said and clapped her hands together, smiling softly. «I do assume you have a mega stone collar for your pokemon?»

«Eeh...Can’t say i have that...» he muttered, looking away from her, scratching the back of his neck.

_ Now this plan is in ruins until i get that… _

Luna nodded and dug up a collar from her bag. «You can take this. My Gardevoir don’t need it for the time being.» she said and handed it over to him.

He took it from her hands, their skin lightly brushing for a few seconds. They both got very conscious about it, but kept their cool, but couldn't hide the light blush on their cheeks. «You’ll get it back...» he muttered.

«Keep it. Like i said...My Gardevoir don’t need it for the time being, and i can always get a new one when i’m back in Kalos.» she replied sweetly.

«You sure?» he asked. «You can get it back.»

«Positive. My Gardevoir is usually very busy anyway.» she added.

«Alright. Thanks.» he said timidly, looking at the collar.

Luna found the collar with the mega stone to her Lopunny, and called out her pokemon. The pokemon glomped her right away, giving off soft, content cries as it rubbed its cheek against hers. «Non non, Lockpin!» she giggled.

Gladion tried to keep his eyes away from the scene, seeing her smile and giggle softly like that made his heart jump. He called out his Lucario and found the mega stone. He looked at the collar, not sure how to put the stone in in. Luna saw and giggled softly, making him blush and feeling like a novice. Luna took out the mega stone of hers, and started to show him.

«You take it like this...» she started.

«Uhuh...»

«Then you put in the mega stone in like that...» she added.

«Right...» he muttered softly, watching her do it with ease.

«And then you close this, and it’s in.» she finished.

«Okay...» he added, getting the mega stone into the collar.

«Now you just put it onto your pokemon. Make sure you don’t strangle him.» she said, putting the collar on her Lopunny.

Gladion got over to his pokemon and put on the collar, making sure that it’s on, and wouldn’t strangle the pokemon, nor fall off anytime soon. Luna got up and put two fingers in between the neck and the collar, seeing it for herself that it’s not to tight. She told him that she usually went by the ‘two finger’ rule when putting on the collar, which he nodded at. When she got over, he lightly flinched and looked down at her.

_ She’s so close… _

He could feel his face heat up as he looked at her profile. Her bangs gently framing her face, her long eyelashes and silver grey eyes that were sparkling and her soft, gentle smile. The more he looked, the more red his cheeks became. Luna nodded and hummed softly, asking if he were ready to start, as she needed to get a good look on how close he and his pokemon were. He cleared his throat and nodded, humming softly. They got to each of the battlefields corners and their pokemon took place in the middle. Her Lopunny looked rather excited as it kept skipping around.

«Es-tu prêt, Lockpin?» she asked. The pokemon looked back at her, gave a soft cry and nodded. Luna nodded and smile, looking over at Gladion, who were looking as ready as he could get.

* * *

Luna knew that her Lopunny, being normal type, were weak against his fighting type pokemon, yet, she managed to get the Lucario down onto it’s knees. The Lopunny gave a content cry, keeping its position. The Lucario looked up at the bunny pokemon and gave a light growl, not being happy with losing to a female counterpart. Gladion sighed, but fully knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Luna got over to her pokemon, petting it softly. Gladion got over to his, placing his hand on its head.

«You did great.» he said gently. The Lucario gave a soft cry, but kept on pouting. Gladion then looked over to Luna. «Did you get anything from that?» he asked.

Luna walked over, stopping in front of him and nodded. «Oui. Seems like i got what i needed.» she said.

«Which is what?» he said, letting out a soft sigh as he crossed his arms, waiting for what she had to say. It took him off guard when she looked him dead in the eye.

«There is lacking some trust in here...» she said, and pointed at the two.

Gladion just looked flabbergasted at her, not sure how to process what she just told him. «What?» he lightly hissed, not really sure if he would believe in it or not.

«Like i said...» she started, only to get interupted by her pokemon glomping her again. «Lockpin! Non!»

Gladion stood there, not looking impressed. Of course there had to be trust in between the trainer and its pokemon, if not, they wouldn’t have gone anywhere, so he didn’t really know what to think of it. He clearly wasn’t to happy about it.

_ Lacking trust…? Are you kidding me…? _

«What i was about to say is...» she started again. «Of course there is trust between you and your pokemon. You do care and you are friends, considering that Lucario evolves by friendship after all.» she added, pausing. «Though...To be able to mega evolve, you have to trust your pokemon to keep itself under wraps, not going overboard.»

«Which means?» he asked, clearly not sounding happy with what she said.

«As in...While the pokemon is in its mega form, it should be able to listen to your orders, as well as the pokemon should be able to trust its trainer to cancel the evolution if needed. Some pokemon does get hurt by it’s mega evolution, and have to trust their trainer in order to get back to their regular form.»

Gladion listened carefully, but didn’t really get it either, getting stuck on the ‘not trusting his pokemon’ part, which made it hard to get whatever else she were saying. He could feel his heart break slightly from it, and couldn’t explain why he felt that way, but he definitely didn’t like it.

_ All this...just to hear that? Fucking ridiculous… _

Luna could see that he wasn’t happy to hear it, but it was the truth. He needed to know it in order to work on it, and there was no other way around it either. She eventually stopped and they agreed to wrap it up for the day, calling back their pokemon. He kept pondering about it as he walked with her down to the Aether docks, watching as she got onto the ferry over to Akala Island. Before she boarded the ferry, she told him that he can contact her on her phone whenever he were ready to continue working on it, but from the rather dissatisfied expression he had, she were overly positive that that wouldn’t happen, and that she had scared him off completely, and for good. That clearly stung, since she did want to get to know him more. As quickly the ferry left the docks, he took the elevator up to the entrance area, and headed towards the mansion in the back, his mind focusing on what she said earlier.

_ I have had these pokemon for years...there is no way that ‘trust’ is lacking… _

The closer he got to the mansion, the more prominent his frown became. Getting into the mansion, he walked into the kitchen, getting himself something to drink and eat before heading into the living room, taking a seat there while he slowly ate something, looking outside of the windows and around the room, which was unusually silent for once. Staring at the many paintings and pictures, he just couldn’t figure out what, nor why she would say that, and with a straight face. The more he thought about it, the more angry and upset he got, thinking that this training wouldn’t go anywhere and that he might as well just quit, and stop seeing her overall, not wanting to hang around someone who tells him that he had trust issues, overthinking the what she had told him.

_ Fuck this...I’m out... _


	16. Hidden Issues

A week and a half had now passed since the mega evolution ‘lesson’ where Luna told him that there was some trust issues between him and his pokemon. Gladion took it the wrong way, thinking that she were talking about him only, forgetting that there had to me mutual trust between the trainer and the pokemon. They had just finished a meeting, and Sol had noticed something off with Gladion, him seeing rather unimpressed and kept his attention down at the table while Lusamine were discussing things with the other champions. When Lusamine concluded the meeting over, after getting some valuable feedback and more things to look into, she concluded the meeting over. The other champions got up from their chairs and walked out, while Sol kept sitting behind, watching them leave. Gladion were about to get up from the chair, but Sol grabbed his arm.

«We need to talk, mate.» he said rather seriously.

Gladion sighed and sat down into the chair again. «What?» he lightly hissed.

«What’s going on?» he asked, looking quite serious at him.

«Don’t know what you are talking about.» Gladion replied quickly, narrowing his eye at him.

Sol could tell that something were up, but knew that if he didn’t ‘attack’ him up front, he wouldn’t go anywhere with him. «You are so fucking pathetic...»

«What?» he snarled at him.

«You know what i’m talking about.» Sol added, sitting back in the chair, crossing his arms. «Did she say something? And then all of a sudden you decided to quit?» he started, already knowing it had to do something about the Kalos champion. Gladion scoffed and averted his eyes from him, which was the confirmation that he needed. «So she did say something...» he added.

«You know what...Get fucking lost, Sol.» Gladion snarled and got up from the chair.

Sol got up as well, stopping him by grabbing his arm. «Running away again?» he hissed at him.

Gladion looked over his shoulder shaked him off and turned around to face him. «What the fuck to you know? Huh?»

«I know a fucking lot, Gladion!» he snarled back at him, grabbing the collar. «I’m so tired of your godforsaken shit!» he added, pulling him down to make him sit on the chair again. «If this is some of your fucking edgy schemes again, then it won’t work, mister. I’m so fucking done with your depressive shit. Literally D.O.N.E! Done! Done with you edgy bullshit!»

Gladion were looking up at the Alolan champion, not sure what to say, as he had never seen the guy this furious. «Sol...» he muttered, gritting his teeth.

«Nah ha, you listen here!» Sol started. «You are such a quitter! I’m surprised that you are still challenging me at the league once in a while, and even gives it a go at the Royal Dome!» he snarled, pausing. Gladion just looked at him with big eyes, trying to process what’s actually going on. Sol sent him a glare. «Why don’t you just quit altogether? It’s what you are the best at anyway. Whenever there is some hardships for you, you just quit!»

«I don’t expect you to get it, Sol...» Gladion managed to get out, snarling it at him.

«Oh yeah. I  _ get _ it, alright. She apparently said something, you took it up the wrong way, and now you are here... _ quitting _ .» Sol said. Sol started to growl to himself.

They kept going on back and forth, Gladion defending himself to the best of his ability, only for Sol to shut him down. In the end, Sol sighed loudly, telling him that he were most likely a lost cause. Sol eventually let go of his collar and straightened up, giving Gladion a glare, something Gladion wasn’t used to and lightly flinched.

«I know  _ you _ don’t consider me a friend, but...» he started, pausing and ran his hand through his hair. «But i do see you as a friend...and i wouldn’t have said anything if i didn’t care. Whatever she said, or did, i think you should reconsider your actions there if you don’t want to lose someone you find precious in your life.» he added.

Gladion scoffed, shaking his head. «Sol...I...» he muttered, not sure what to reply to him.

«You know what...Since you like to quit so much these past years..Just don’t bother get up to the league anymore.» Sol said harshly at him.

«Sol...» he muttered, watching him start to walk out of the room.

«You were never like this before...» Sol added, walking out of the room.

Gladion just sat there, having a mixture of feelings brewing up. Sol had a point. After his ex years ago, things seemed to deteriorate even quicker whenever he started on something new, making him quit relatively fast. He kept sitting there, just looking around the room while thinking of what Sol had pointed out at him. He let out a soft sigh, and as he did, Luna came to mind. He did glance over at her while the meeting were going on, and she had quite the upset expression on her, and while thinking back on it, his heart dropped.

_ I have ignored her for a week and a half...I’m sure she don’t want anything to do with me now… _

Leaning over the table, placing his elbows on it and his hands over his face, he let out a soft sigh. He took his phone up and placed it in front of him, just looking at it for a while, debating with himself if he actually should give her a message or not.

_ I really am pathetic… _

* * *

Sol continued down the corridor, feeling rather bad for going out on Gladion, but he needed it. After his ex girlfriend those years ago, he stopped trying. Completely. It did piss him off even then, but didn’t predict that it would go on for years, much less, now that he managed to play matchmaker on him, and by the looks Gladion gave Luna those meetings, and whenever she were around him, he literally couldn’t keep his eyes off. Sol felt that it could change, he just needed that kick in his ass to get going, which seemed fine the past weeks, up until this past week and a half.

«If this won’t get him up from his ass, then i don’t know what will...» he growled to himself, getting onto the elevator and pushed the button for the entrance area.

Getting down to the entrance area, he noticed Lillie in the distance, walking over to him in a hurry. «Sol..!?» she called out for him, looking rather distressed.

«What is it, Lillie?» he asked, still looking rather irritated.

Lillie slowed down as she approached him, only seeing his irritated expression when she were standing in front of him. «Umm...What’s is it? Gladion done something again?» she asked. Sol and Gladion were always fighting about something, but she had never seen him so ticked off.

«Nha...Just gave Gladion some ‘man to man’ talk. A much needed one that is.» he replied, followed by a sigh.

«Oh...Is he going to be okay then? He have a tendency to hide for a while if something happens...» she asked, not really sure what to make out of what he said.

«I’ll make sure that’s he’s fine. Don’t worry about it, Lillie.» Sol replied, forcing a smile to her.

Seeing his smile made her relax, sighing softly in relief. «Oh, okay...Good to know.» she replied softly. She started to get nervous, as she had planned on asking him something, which Sol noticed.

«Soo...what were you going to ask?» he asked her, which only made her flinch.

«Umm...» she started, starting to twin her thumbs and look down to the floor.

* * *

After sitting around in the room for a while, he took his phone and put it back into his pocket, got up from the chair and walked out. Starting to walk down the corridor, his mind were still all over the place, not really sure what he would be doing, but knew that he had to change something, but before that, he decided to get over to the Battle Royal, taking on a few round there, which was his typical outlet whenever something got to him. Getting over to the elevator, he had to wait for a while before it got up so he could get on. Once it arrived, he took it down to the docks, hurrying over to the ferry and took it over to Akala, forgetting that Luna were residing at the resort on the way over. Getting off at the marine, he started to head over to Route 6, it being the easiest way to get there. He let out a light sigh as he got to the route, starting to head to Royal Avenue. Not looking where he was walking, he bumped into someone that was the last person he expected to bumping into.  _ Again _ . He looked up from the ground, looking up in front of him, Luna was standing there. She had been wandering around, taken on Lana’s water trial and training her Vulpix around the route a little before heading to the PMC, healing it up and then decided to head back to the resort, getting something to eat. Their eyes met and he started to panic, since he had ignored her on purpose the past week and a half.

«Je suis désolé...» she muttered softly. She then bowed and started to pass him.

He just stood there as she passed, but out in sheer panic, he grabbed her arm, stopping her. She got surprised as he did, turning around slightly, to which he quickly let go of her arm. «Arceus...I’m sorry...» he muttered, retracting his hand to his pocket.

«Oh, it’s fine.» she replied with a soft smile.

Seeing her smile again made him blush into a deep red. «Sorry that i haven’t...contacted you in a while...» he muttered, looking away from her.

«C’est bien, monsieur.» she said. «I just assumed you got very busy.» she added.

Gladion nodded. «Yeah...» he muttered. «Aether can be quite...hectic at times...» he added, going with a small, white lie.

He went with the lie, apologizing that he hadn’t contacted her again after that battle, which she said was fine, as well as he didn’t need to apologize. She felt that she had put it out a little to rude, but it was the truth, as well as it wasn’t about him not trusting his pokemon, but his pokemon not fully trusting him, telling him that was at least what she meant when she told him that there was some lack of trust. As she said it, he felt like an idiot.

_ Ugh...I just had to ask her… _

«I’m sorry if it came out to harsh...» she muttered.

«It’s fine...Really.» he replied.

«On your way to the Royal Dome?» she asked, tilting her head.

«Yeah...Just wanted to get in a few battles before i get back to Aether.» he said, nodding lightly.

It was a rather awkward situation, but it seemed that Luna expected that he would take a while to think about it. Luna smiled softly, nodding. She repeated that he could contact her again whenever he were ready to continue, which he nodded at, telling her that he would. He just had to work around the Aether schedule again. They had a few more words before she excused herself, telling him that Diantha were waiting for her. He nodded, and they said their goodbyes, him standing there and watching her as she walked off, keeping his eyes on her soft movements as she walked away. While watching her walk off, his chest started to sting again, and not just a little. It was to the point that he thought he had an heart attack, standing there, clenching his hoodie on his left side tightly, swallowing thickly and taking deep breaths in order to try and get rid of it. He slowly started to walk off, heading to the Battle Dome, hoping that the immense pain would go away before he registered his pokemon. Luna got the pain as well, but on her left shoulder. She slowly continued off the Avenue, and started on the route, tightly clenching the strap of her bag. The pain subdued rather quickly, but it was a lot, and took them both by surprise when it arrived. Coming from the place where they had their markings, they already knew it had grown, and it had grown  _ a lot _ .


	17. Dreadfull Evening...

A few more days had passed, making it a month that the champions had been around in Alola, attending a few meetings. They would only get more frequent with the next month, and Aether would be even more busier than usual. Gladion were, as usual, looking through the papers that Faba were suppose to get through, but he were just pacing back and forth in front of the desk, talking himself up and that he knows the best for the company, to which Gladion just sighed at, getting more and more frustrated and irritated at what he were saying and implying. 

«It would be so much better if your mother actually would listen to what i had to say!» he hissed, crossing his arms while pacing back and forth.

«Then talk to her...» Gladion muttered.

«You mother won’t listen, young Master. He won’t listen.» he hissed.

«Then that’s your answer...» he hissed back at him.

Faba just looked at him, narrowing his eyes while glaring in disgust. He muttered something inaudible, which caught Gladion’s attention, though, he couldn’t hear what he said. As he kept on sitting there, going through  _ his _ work, Wicke eventually arrived, looking for Faba, making sure that he were doing his job, which he wasn’t. Standing in the door, watching Faba pace back and forth, and Gladion doing the work, she let out a deep sigh. She walked up to Faba and cleared her throat, which made him freeze on the spot, slowly turning around to face her. Gladion looked up right away, seeing Wicke with a smile on her face, but he already knew what was going to happen, making him silently chuckle.

«Mr. Faba...Why is young Master Gladion doing  _ your _ work?» she asked, keeping the smile on her.

Faba swallowed thickly, looking around the room for a perfect answer. «Well...The young Master decided to help….Yes!...He decided to help!» he stuttered. Gladion just rolled his eyes and shaked his head.

«I doubt that, Mr. Faba.» she then said and passed him, walking over to the desk. «Young Master, please take the evening off. You should prepare yourself for the coming meetings this month and would need the rest.» she said sweetly to him. Faba’s jaw dropped, quickly turning it into a light pout, but that changed into a smile when Wicke turned to look over her shoulder, keeping the smile on her lips.

«Right…I’m done with these by the way...» he said and collected the documents, and handed them to her.

Wicke were rather surprised. «Oh? That’s great. Thank you.»

Gladion nodded and got up from the chair, walking away from the desk. He were rather tired, having looked through a mountain of documents, but didn’t want to go home just yet. Listening to Wicke lightly scold Faba for making him work were rather satisfying to hear as he got out of the office, heading over to the elevator, and taking it down to the docks.

* * *

Earlier that week, Diantha had fixed herself and Luna a date, which was surprising to her. Luna had no plans on going out for the time being, but when Diantha told her that everything is planned and ready to go, she felt like she couldn’t refuse, not wanting the former champion to get mad or anything of the sorts, so Luna agreed to tag along, but told her that she most likely wouldn’t be long. Luna had gotten herself as ready as possible, taking in a deep breath before getting her bag and head down to the lobby, meeting up with Diantha, and the dates she had fixed for them both. Walking down the hallway and over to the elevator and pushed the button for the lobby, getting nervous. He hated blind dates, but that was something Diantha loved to put her up with random strangers, despite her telling her not to. She got lost in thought, trying to find every possible excuse there was if she had to escape. As the elevator stopped and the doors opened, she slowly walked out into the lobby. She found Diantha quickly, sitting in one of the seating areas, waiting for her, and were looking quite excited. Their dates weren’t there, which was rather odd, since it did seem like that they would be there, and Diantha worded it that way as well. Luna took sighed softly and walked over to her.

«Diantha…?» she muttered softly to her, as she were looking quite busy while checking her phone.

Diantha looked up and smiled softly to her. «Luna! There you are. You ready?» she asked.

«Not really...» she replied sheepishly.

Diantha chuckled softly. «Don’t be scared. They are both nice, young men.» she said with a smile. «We are going to Malie City, as they will pick us up there.» 

Luna nodded. «Okay...» she muttered.

Diantha got up from the chair she was sitting on and started to head out, while Luna followed after her, hesitating greatly. They walked out and Diantha partially dragging her with her through the street and over to the marine, getting on the ferry to Malie in a hurry. The ferry ride over felt like it was over in a few seconds, it went that fast for her, being nervous and scared at the same time. As the ferry got to Malie, they got off and out to the streets. Getting out of the terminal, the two Diantha had fixed a date with, were standing there, waiting. They walked up and Diantha introduced themselves, as well as introducing Luna for her date. Her date were a few years older than her, and looked at her like he were going to devour her, making her uncomfortable. Diantha linked her arm with her date and started to head over to Sushi High Roller, as the two dates of theirs had booked a table there. Luna didn’t link her arm with her blind date, but kept her eyes on the ground, not wanting to look up and give him the satisfaction of her attention. It seemed that he didn’t mind, but kept his eyes on her, looking her down while licking his lips.

They got into the restaurant and over to their table, sitting down. Luna were feeling quite trapped, sitting in the corner with no escape and her date at her left, but kept her posture, as Diantha had told her to  _ behave like a lady _ when being out. They ordered some food and waited for it to get done and arrive, and while doing so, her date were still looking her down, trying to get some small talk in between, asking her different things. Luna replied politely, keeping her eyes away from him, but did occasionally give him an uninterested glance. The food arrived rather quickly, and they started to eat, taking their time while chatting between them about different things. Diantha were enjoying herself, while Luna did not. She just wanted to leave, but didn’t want to be rude either since Diantha had put this up for her as well. While eating, Luna’s date started to place his hand on her thigh, to which she removed it very quickly. But as soon she removed his hand, he placed it there again, lightly starting to go up and under her skirt. She kept removing his hand, and silently and politely telling him to stop, which he didn’t and kept on going, just giving her a creepy smirk. She tried several times to give Diantha a few hints here and there, but she completely ignored her, keeping her full attention on her designated date, and seemed to have fun. He kept moving his hand onto her thigh, and slowly feel her up. It got to the point that she were feeling quite distressed, starting to plan to tell him off loudly.

She were preparing herself to tell him off, but didn’t get that far. They all looked at the windows. Luna and her ‘date’ turned to look over their shoulders, which made her eyes grow big. It was Gladion, and he were gesturing for her to meet him outside of the place. She let out a silent sigh of relief and got her bag, excusing herself in a hurry, and quickly got away from the uncomfortable situation. She got out of the restaurant, seeing Gladion standing there with his hands in his pockets. He turned towards her as she walked out, letting out another light sigh in relief.

«You okay?» he asked, clearly sounding worried.

«I...could have been better...» she muttered softly, holding her hand over her heart.

Her voice were slightly shaking as well, which he saw and frowned at. «How long did he do that?» he asked, sounding a bit more stern than intended to.

«Well...I didn’t count the minutes, but for a while at least...» she muttered, placing her hands down in front of her, keeping her skirt  _ down _ unconsciously.

«Fucking idiot...» he hissed, the frown on his face getting more prominent.

«Why are you around here…?» she asked.

«Just wandering around. Getting some fresh air after being occupied at Aether all day.» he replied to her, looking around the street. He was about to ask her something more about that ‘date’ of hers, but got interrupted when he walked out.

«Oh! There you are, miss Luna.» he said, giving her a smile. Luna just took a step away, moving closer to Gladion without noticing. He noticed her moving away from him and towards Gladion, which made him frown and look over at him. «I’m sorry, but me and the young miss will have to go, as she’s my date for the evening.» he said, sounding quite proud.

«Is that so…?» Gladion replied, looking rather unimpressed. Luna have moved more, and were, more or less, standing behind him at this point, feeling safer there.

«Why, yes. I’m sorry, but if you don’t let the young miss go, i’ll have to call some friends of mine.» he said, trying to sound intimidating.

Gladion scoffed, giving the guy a glare, which made him flinch. «Who are these friends of yours?» he asked, already knowing where this was going.

«Oh? I’m sure you have heard of Alola’s Team Skull, no?» he said. «I have some...connections there, and i’m sure they won’t hesitate to take you down if you won’t leave us alone.» he added, doing his best to keep his proud posture.

«Team Skull you say?» Gladion muttered, shaking his head. «I’m sure you don’t know who they are, other than their name.» he added, shaking his head.

«Oh, i’m just giving you a warning, kid. I’m sure they’ll help me if i just call them.» he said, narrowing his eyes at him. «I’m sure you have heard of their so called... _ Enforcer _ ...no?»

Gladion chuckled. «How funny is that...» he replied, shaking his head while chuckling softly. Luna just looked up at him, not sure what was so funny about it.

«And why is that funny?» he hissed at the blonde, scowling at him.

«You are talking to this  _ Enforcer _ you are talking about.» Gladion added. The guy just looked at him with wide eyes, swallowing thickly as Gladion looked down at Luna. «Should i follow you back to Hano?» he asked.

Luna nodded. «Please...» she muttered softly.

Gladion nodded and extended his arm to her. «Allons-nous partir, madame?»

Luna blushed and nodded lightly. «Oui...Laissez-nous partir.» she replied softly, linking her arm with his. The guy were just staring wide eyed at them as they walked off. The guy then scoffed and lightly stomped his way inside, probably to tell the two others what happened.

Once the guy were inside, Luna suggested that they killed off some time somewhere, feeling that the guy would follow after her back to Hano Grand and most likely do more than to feel her up her thigh. Gladion nodded and hummed softly, taking a detour into Malie Garden, telling her that it would be better to just stay close to the marine and kill off some time in here. Making sure that the guy weren’t following her, she took a quick look over her shoulder, letting out a light sigh.

Gladion looked down at her. «You sure you are okay?»

«Oui.» she replied softly, nodding. «I’m fine, just...shaken, i guess…?»

He hummed softly and nodded slightly. «Understandable.» he muttered softly. Starting to walk around the garden, keeping their arms linked, Luna tried to calm herself down as much as possible, being somewhat shaken up from the situation earlier.


	18. ...To Delightful Evening

Walking around in the garden, Luna started to get self conscious about the entire situation. She were happy that she were out of the situation, but she found herself in a new one. Walking around, in a garden, with someone she found quite attractive, with their arms linkes. She became beet red, looking down at the ground while walking around, occasionally looking around and up to him, getting quick look at his profile. Because of that, she got unusually silent, which was something he noticed.

«You sure you are alright?» he asked, not thinking to much of the situation, only that he would have to keep her around until she felt safe enough to leave. Luna just nodded, humming softly, doing her best to hide in plain sight. Gladion raised an eyebrow. «You sure.»

«I-i’m sure...Really.» she muttered softly.

Gladion nodded slightly. «Alright. If you say so...» he muttered softly.

Walking around a little more, they crossed one of the bridges, where the path were covered with water, and only a few stepping stones to cross. It was the closest one, and them both didn’t want to walk back, risking her getting dragged away by that creepy guy who was her ‘date’ for the evening. Observing the path a little, Gladion went on first, getting over to the first tile and held out his hand for her, helping her over. She hesitated, but took his hand and jumped over. As she jumped, Gladion pulled her towards him, which ended being a bit to hard, making her crash into his chest. In pure reflex, he kept holding onto her hand, placing his other on her waist. Looking down at her, she looked up at the same time, making their eyes meet. They quickly averted their gaze, both getting beet red. Gladion then cleared his throat and said that they should continue over, which Luna nodded at. Gladion kept a firm grip on her hand, swallowing thickly and keeping his composure as they continued over to the other side. Without thinking when they were over, Luna linked her arm with his again, and they started to walk around some more, Gladion guiding her with him to the Dango shop, thinking that it would be a nice ‘break’, considering that his heart were racing like crazy at this point. Gladion couldn’t get her eyes out of his mind, they were just mesmerizing to him. Her eyes being slightly narrow, long eyelashes framing them and a few sparkles, that were most likely from the light above them, lighting up the way, but it made her eyes look slightly golden. Then there were her hands, when she placed her hand in his, his heart jumped, feeling how small and delicate it was compared to his, to the point that he didn’t really know how to help her over, a slight fear coming over him that he probably would break her fingers if he held to tightly.

Following the small, man-made river, they ended up in the middle of the garden, and at the Dango shop. Walking over to a bench there, Luna sat down while Gladion said that he would be right back. She nodded and placed her bag in her lap, looking around the place. Lanterns lighting up the small riverside and the path in the dark, creating a very soft and calm atmosphere around the place, and the buildings, which she had figured out from a little earlier that day, were inspired by Jotho, which was something she found quite interesting, considering that Alola were a tropical region with their own thing going on like the Trials. Gladion were getting something from the shop, some dangos to calm himself down and for her, thinking that it would make the evening a little better with something sweet, forgetting about the creep earlier. He got a pair and got over to Luna again, who were sitting there, looking around, still looking rather nervous and tense. As he got back over to her, placing the small plate on the bench to her side, and sitting down, she flinched.

Gladion looked at her with big eyes. «Sorry if i spooked you. Thought you heard me...» he said.

«Don’t apologize. I was just lost in thought.» she replied, followed by a sheepish giggle.

Gladion nodded and offered her one of the dango’s. «Here. I guess these are better than the idiot earlier.»

«Oh. Thank you.» she said softly, taking one of them. She studied it, not sure what it is. She took a bite, and got very surprised that it was incredibly sweet. «Oh! It’s really sweet.»

«It’s some kind of sweets from Jotho. At least that’s what Sol told me once.» he said, taking a bite of one. Luna hummed and nodded, smiling softly.

While eating, Luna were looking around some more, but came to recall that her ‘date’ did mention something about someone called Team Skull, and started to get curious, as well as Gladion did tell the guy that he was the so called  _ Enforcer _ of that group. Letting the curiosity take over, she asked who that was, which made Gladion hesitate to reply, not wanting to tell her anything about that group and their antics.

«Team Skull is just a bunch of idiots...Nothing more than that.» he said.

«But...Won’t that make you one then? You did say that you were their... _ Enforcer _ ? Whatever that means...» she said, muttering the latter.

Gladion stopped eating and started to debate with himself if he even should say anything or just shut up overall, not wanting to give her a bad impression. «It’s not the proudest time in my life...» he muttered, which caught Luna’s attention.

«Oh?» she muttered softly.

Gladion sighed deeply. «Team Skull were the usual ‘bad’ team in the region. Like Team Rocket, just...more dull and full of idiots that didn’t know what they were doing...» he started, getting the basic out of the way. «They hired me back in the day to clean up some strong trainers...as they apparently couldn't do that themselves.» he added.

Luna nodded. «Oh, je vois...» she muttered softly. «So...This  _ Team Skull _ is like  _ Team Flare _ back in Kalos then i guess...Some group that don’t do anything good for people and pokemon.»

«Something like that...» he muttered, getting more and more embarrassed by the fact that he had now told her he worked for a bad team at some point. As well as Aether were ‘bad’ a few years back with the incident with the ultra wormholes and the Ultra Beasts getting out in Alola.

_ And now she’ll definitely avoid me… _

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Not the proudest time in my life...» he added.

«Everyone has something they ain’t proud over.» she replied, giving him a sweet smile.

«I’m very sure that you have done nothing that is considering ‘bad’.» he said.

Luna giggled softly. «Not as of yet, but i’m sure i’ll have my fair chance at some point.»

Gladion chuckled lightly, shaking his head. «I’m positive you won’t.»

Luna giggled. «Non non.~» she said, waving her hand at him. Her light giggle just brought a soft smile on him.

They finished the sweets and got up from the bench. Luna dusted off her skirt a little and got her bag over her shoulder while he threw the plate away into the trash. He walked over to her again, watching her put her hair up in a ponytail. While she were finishing up with that, he looked around the garden a little, seeing a few Poliwags getting up from the small ponds close by the shop. Luna noticed where he was looking and looked into the same direction, seeing the pokemon doing their own thing.

«Seems like they have a good time.» she said softly.

Gladion hummed softly. «It’s usually around now they are around on land. They keep themselves in the water most of the day.» he replied, looking over at her. «Should you get the next ferry to Akala?»

«Oui. I guess it’s about time i get back to Hano Grand.» she replied lightly.

«On y va?» he asked, extending his arm to her.

Luna were surprised for a second, but smiled softly. «Oui. Bien sûr.~» she replied, linking her arm with his again.

Walking off again, they took the different way back, were they actually could walk properly over the bridge, instead of jumping from tile to tile. The rest of the walk around Malie Garden were rather peaceful and not as tense. On the way out, Luna took another quick look up at his profile. Piercing, emerald green eyes, looking like they would give a faint glow in the dark, his well defined jawline, no blemishes as she could see. She gained a faint pink color on her cheeks as she looked away, getting a soft smile across her lips. Walking out of the garden, they both looked towards the restaurant, making sure that there wasn’t anyone walking out, especially a certain someone. Not seeing anyone, they found their way over to the terminal, getting a ticket over to Akala Island. While getting it, they got the information that the ferry would take a quick stop at Hau’oli Marine first, picking up and letting some people off the ferry, which they both nodded at. The ferry were about to leave, so they quickly got on, found some seats inside and sat down. Luna kept her attention out of the windows as the ferry started to move, leaving Malie and Ula’ula Island. Getting out at the sea, Luna asked him if he were still interested in her help to achieve mega evolution with his Lucario.

Gladion nodded. «Yeah...Aether have just been...very busy.» he muttered.

«That’s understandable. I’m just asking so i’m sure.» she said, followed by a soft giggle.

«I’ll let you know when i can.» he replied, feeling bad that he actually had to help out at Aether with whatever, as he would much rather be around her.

«Oui.~» she replied lightly with a soft smile.

The ride over to Hau’oli were quite calming and relaxing. Since it took a while to get to Akala, they ended up chatting and exchange a few battle tips here and there, and as far as that went, they got to the topic of mega evolution, Luna sharing a few experiences with it and with her first pokemon that could mega evolve. He was surprised that she had a Lucario at some point herself, only to give it back to Korrina when it didn’t want to be around her anymore.

«How come you gave it back?» he asked.

«There wasn’t much of a bond and trust between me and the pokemon, as i didn’t catch it as a Riolu and then evolve it. Korrina did that and did have a stronger bond with it from the start. I guess that the pokemon just wanted to join me while i was on my trainer adventure those years ago...I don’t really know.» she said, letting out a light sigh. «It stopped listening after i became champion, and i tried to regain it’s trust, but it just wouldn’t let me, so i gave it back to Korrina.»

«Huh...Rather an odd story, considering that Korrina, according to you, said that it had a stronger bond with you.» he said, crossing his arms.

«Pokemon are like people. They have their preferences, and after trading they might stay around, or that you have to give it back. If possible that is.» she replied. «I didn’t really mind. It was a pokemon that joined out of nowhere, and already had a strong bond with someone.»

«So...Your Lopunny then? It’s the replacement?» he asked.

«I wouldn’t say she’s a replacement, but...yes, she is.» she said, followed by a sheepish giggle.

«I know that Kalos don’t have the Buneary line around, so how did you get it? A color variant even.» he asked.

«I got her from my brother as a Buneary. He had been traveling around Hoenn and ended up catching it by a mistake. Noticing that it was a color variant, he kept it and when he got back home, he gave the pokemon to me. As well as he managed to get the mega stone for it while being in Hoenn.» she replied, smiling. «She is, like with my Gardevoir, one of my strongest mega evolution pokemon. Oh! I do have Charizard too now that i think about it...» she added, resting her finger on her cheek in a thinking position.

«You have three pokemon that can mega evolve?» he asked, sounding quite surprised.

Luna giggled softly. «Oui. Je fais.~»

Gladion sighed and hung his head, feeling quite defeated knowing that she had three pokemon that could mega evolve, though, she reassured him that it’s for the best to only have one that can mega evolve on them, as the key stone would continue to drag energy from the trainer in order to let the pokemon evolve further, and make the trainer get drained rather quickly if a battle took place. Gladion nodded slightly and hummed softly, being pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to get to that step of mega evolution, but he would at least try. It would be easier as well with her help while being around in Alola. The ferry arrived at Hau’oli Marine, and a few people got off while new people got on, getting into some seats before the ferry left for Akala. A they got out at the sea again, their conversation died out, and Luna averted her attention outside, watching Melemele Island slowly get smaller as the distance increased. Gladion just kept his eyes on her, but averted them as quickly as possible if she started to look around the ferry for a few seconds, only to look outside again, and for him to look over at her again.

The rest of the ride over to Akala went quickly, and as it docked up at the marine, they got off. The walk away from the marine and through the main street, heading over to Hano Grand. Walking the street, looking around at the other tourists that were doing their own thing and generally just being weird and doing dumb shit. Gladion muttered ‘tourists’ while shaking his head, having seen the same stunts they full every year. Luna giggled softly, finding it rather funny, considering that she also were a tourist, beside attending the meetings at Aether from time to time.

Getting to the resort, they stopped. «Well...Here you are.» he muttered, looking at the building.

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Oui...» She looked over at him while he were busy looking up at the building. «Thank you for saving me.» she said, and took a step closer to him, getting up on her tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek.

He froze for a second, but unconsciously leaned into it. «Your welcome...» he muttered timidly and quickly.

«Bonsoir.~» she said lightly with a soft smile and turned around, walking off and into the building.

He stood there for a while, just watching the building. «Bonsoir...» he muttered and turned around, starting to walk off, heading back to the marine. The feeling of her lips kept lingering on the way over, his heart and mind racing while trying to calm himself down, convincing himself that she did it out of old habit.


	19. Mindracing

After she got back to the resort, she quickly got up to her floor and room, locking herself in while her heart were racing loudly. She leaned towards the door a little, her hands over her face while her face started to heat up. She let out a light squeal, shaking her head and parted her fingers, looking around her room. She inhaled deeply a few times before removing her hands from her face, getting her bag off her shoulder and walk more into her room, being a blushy mess. She placed her bag on the bed, grabbed her PJs and walked over to the bathroom, getting herself out of the outfit and into the PJ. She quickly brushed through her hair and brushed her teeth quickly. Getting out into the room again, she grabbed the bag and placed it on the table in the room. She opened her bag up, and as she did, the Alolan Vulpix jumped out of its pokeball, shaking its body a little before sitting down, looking up at her. Luna had somewhat of a scared expression, but her cheeks had a red coloration to them.

«I kissed him...Again...» she muttered softly. «I didn’t even think...I just...did it.» she added. The pokemon just tilted its head, not sure what she were looking so horrified over. She looked down at the pokemon, giving it a sheepish smile. «It was on the cheek...but it’s still a kiss...non?»

Her face became more and more red as she thought about it. Not really sure how to calm herself down, she got her phone and got over to the bed, crawling in and got under the covers, just sitting there, looking at the black TV screen. The pokemon jumped off the table and onto the floor before jumping into the bed, walking over to her, sitting down in front of her and looked up, tilting its head. Burying her face in the covers, she let out another squeal, dropping back, letting her head hit the pillow while dragging the covers with her over her head.

_ Oh my gosh! What did i do!?... _

The tiny pokemon were utterly confused, and didn’t know what was happening, it being inside its pokeball the whole evening on her request. She kept on panicking for a few more minutes before she managed to calm down a little. She let out a sigh, looking up at the ceiling and a soft smile slowly appearing on her lips, starting to wiggle her entire body, letting out a few more soft squeals. She kept on squealing a little longer while laying in the bed, making the Vulpix curious as of why, not understanding what was going on. Luna eventually calmed down, taking the cover away from her face and stared up at the ceiling a little before turning her attention to the windows, looking up at the night sky and the many stars that were twinkling. While looking up at the sky, she turned from her back, laying on her side, a soft smile appeared on her lips, as well as the blush subsided slightly, keeping a faint color on her cheeks. The pokemon tilted it’s head a few more times before it moved to the end of the bed, getting comfortable there and went to sleep. Luna were awake for a few more minutes, calming her mind and heart before trying to get some sleep herself.

Gladion were heading towards the marine, and were quite lost in thought still. The feeling of her lips still lingering on his cheek, making him slightly light headed. His heart were racing, pounding hard and loudly in his chest, despite his attempts to calm himself down, taking deep breaths while walking. He had a rather noticeable blush on his face, but as it was night time, it was hard to notice, so if people were passing him, they couldn’t see it. Walking past the tourists that were doing their ‘nightly rounds’ around Akala, Gladion just scoffed lightly at the sight, shaking his head, getting lost in thought as he got over to the marine again. Not noticing that he was there, he stopped at the edge, looking over at the VLFS in the distance, being all lighted up because of the light.

_ She kissed me again…and i didn’t freeze up like the last time… _

He looked down, seeing the ocean water gently hit the shore, the sound of the waves and the light sea breeze being quite relaxing and calming. The stinging pain hit him out of the blue again, but he didn’t flinch like the previous times it had happened. In stead, he just stood there, feeling it go over his chest and up towards his shoulder in small electric charges. Letting out a sigh, he turned around and headed inside the terminal, getting himself a ticket over to Aether. Getting a ticket and boarded the ferry that were waiting for more passengers to get on, he found a seat on the deck. While sitting there for a while, looking down at the floor, the ferry started to move out, which slightly startled him, being completely lost in his own thoughts. He let out a soft sigh and sat back into his seat, crossing his legs while looking out at the open sea, and the VLFS slowly approaching. Looking over at Akala Island that were slowly gaining some distance from him, he smiled softly, lightly tracing the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

After a while, Gladion got to the VLFS and off at the docks, standing there and watched as the ferry left for Ula’ula Island next. He got over to the elevator, took it up to the entrance area and headed towards the mansion. The sharp light were hard to get used to as he got up, blinding him for a few seconds as he walked away and out of the harsh lighted up entrance area, he got up to the front door of the mansion and silently opened the door, being sure that Lillie and Lusamine were sleeping, or trying, and didn’t want to wake them up. Slowly and silently walking in and closing the door behind him, he found his way over to the stairs and walked up to the second floor and over to his room. Getting his phone out of his pocket, he threw it onto the bed before taking his bag off his hips, placing it onto his desk as he passed it on his way to the bathroom, getting himself ready for bed. Getting out of his clothes and into his PJ pants, he walked out and over to the bed, only for his Silvally to jump out of its pokeball, making Gladion panic as he hurried over to the artificial pokemon. Before he got over to it, it gave a soft cry, which was a bit to loud for Gladion’s liking.

Getting over to the pokemon, pushing its mouth shut. «Shh Silvally! People are sleeping…!» he told the pokemon. It just gave a low growl and tilted its head at him. Gladion sighed and let go of it, going back to the bed and at down on the edge.

Silvally lightly walked over to him and nudged him, giving off a hushed growl, which sounded like he had gotten something stuck in its throat. Gladion just shaked his head, chuckling softly while placing his hand on its head. Giving it a few gentle strokes before getting under the covers, laying on his back while staring up at the ceiling. Silvally prepped itself beside the bed, fluffing up its crest, giving off a soft purring sound. He sat up and found his phone again, which was laying down with his feet. He took a quick look to see if there was any new messages to him, which there wasn’t. With that, he put the phone over at the nightstand, looking over at Silvally.

«Ridiculous pokemon...» he muttered silently to himself, slightly shaking his head at it, the pokemon laying there, looking rather content with its crest all fluffed up.

Gladion got comfortable and went to sleep, feeling rather exhausted. Silvally wasn’t fully asleep yet, and kept itself awake until Gladion snoozed off. There was a small difference for once, its trainer seeming rather happy and more relaxed, which was a rare sight on it’s own. It didn’t know why as it kept staring at him, trying to figure out something from its trainers sleeping face. It made it incredibly curious and couldn’t wait to see for its own eyes what made its trainer shift his energy like this.

* * *

Gladion woke up by his phone ringing and making quite the ruckus on the nightstand it was laying on. He sighed loudly and reached for it, not looking at who were calling, nor what time it was.

«What…?» he muttered in a husky voice.

«Are you still sleeping?» Lillie asked, being on the other side of the phone.

«Not anymore if that makes you better...» he hissed.

«Pfft...Anyway. Want to join us at the Royal Dome? Sol and Hau is going to try out a new strategy.» she said, pausing while Sol were telling her something in the background. «Oh! Sol’s saying that a few of the other champions are also joining...» she added, only to get interupted by Sol again. «Uhuh...Well...By other champions, Sol meant the Kalos champion.» she added again.

Gladion sighed. «When…?» he muttered.

«Now?» she said, not really sure as she were looking over at Hau and Sol, chatting. Sol were looking rather proud, already knowing that Gladion would arrive if Luna were mentioned. «Seriously brother...You can’t sleep all day.» she added.

Gladion looked at the time on his phone, not sure what she meant with ‘sleeping all day’. Seeing that it was past 1pm, me groaned softly, turning over to lay on his back and ran his hand over his face. He muttered that he’ll see how quickly he could get there, not processing that Luna would be there. Lillie sounded cheerfully when she heard him say that he’ll probably get there, and hung up the phone. He kept laying for a few more seconds before slowly sitting up, seeing Silvally with its head resting on the bed, sound asleep. It had its tongue hanging out from its mouth, snoring rather loudly, which surprised him on how he didn’t wake up from that. He shaked his head and got out of the bed, walking over to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Finishing the shower and getting dressed quickly before walking out to his room again, still seeing that Silvally were sleeping. He didn’t bother to wake it up and just found his bag, put it around his hips and found its pokeball, calling it back into it. Putting the pokeball into his bag again, he walked out of his room and started to walk down the hallway. The closer he got to the front door, he came to process that Lillie told him that Luna were going to be there, which made him nervous in an instant.

_ Oh shit… _

He stopped right before the stairs, starting to panic and wonder what he would have to say, or act when seeing her again. It shouldn’t be to hard, as he only saved her from the creep the night before. He stood there for a while, just mentally preparing himself and scripting whatever that needed to be said, if anyone were asking or got suspicious. Taking a few deep inhales, he tried to shake the nervousness out of him and continued down the stairs, heading out. Even the walk towards the elevator in the entrance area seemed long, as well as the trip down to the Aether docks seemed even longer. Every thought he had were telling him that he should just stay away, but his body were doing it’s own thing, waiting for the ferry and getting on it when it arrived. As quickly he got onto the ferry, and it left Aether, the panic grew, but quickly got replaced with the same, familiar, stinging pain on his chest, snapping him out of the panicked state of his.

«Fuck...» he muttered to himself, lightly rubbing the left side of his chest, trying to get rid of the pain.

Pulling the shirt he were wearing down by the collar a little, he looked at his chest, seeing the marking, who had grown a lot since the last time he took a good look at it. He had figured out that it grew whenever he felt that pain, but had yet to figure out why it grew, and why it appeared on him. He stared at it for a while, trying to catch it grow since the pain were still lingering. For the time he stared at it, nothing happened, making him sigh softly and let go of his shirt, looking out at the open sea, and seeing that Akala were approaching fast, which made him slightly start to panic all over again.


	20. Unplanned Confession

Gladion eventually got over to the Royal Dome and found the others standing outside, waiting for him. Sol and Hau were talking rather loudly, as well as Nate and Lucas were around this time, joining them at the Dome to watch. While approaching them, he noticed that Lillie and Luna were nowhere to be seen, which made him slightly irritated, something Sol noticed when he saw him walk up to them.

«Lillie and Luna went to the Dimension Lab to take a look. Prof. Burnet had something Lillie wanted to take a look at and Kalos decided to join.» he said as Gladion approached.

«Didn’t ask.» he hissed.

«I know. But you sure were looking upset, man.» Sol added, grinning. Gladion just scoffed at him, shaking his head. Sol just chuckled lightly.

Nate, Lucas and Hau were chatting between them. The champions asking the Alolan native about whatever of information about the trials and how they came to. Hau gave them what he knew, and told them a little about how the trials worked and what the Z-crystals were used for. They found it rather interesting, but it was hard to get a hold of, not being familiar with it, but they sure were impressed by how easy he made it sound for them. Gladion and Sol were listening in silence, and Gladion were rather baffled that the two champions actually understood what he said. Sol kept on grinning and nodding, but snorted when he saw the confused expression to Gladion.

Sol nudged him lightly. «Hau knows more than you’ll ever understand.» he said, chuckling lightly.

«I’m more surprised that the two foreign champions even understood what he was saying.» he replied.

The two were talking a little, at least until they heard Lillie talk in the distance. The two looked over their shoulder, looking over at the two females that were approaching and talking about what Prof. Burnet had said. Apparently she had given Luna some information about Ultra Beasts, and Lillie were filling in the few holes and answering her questions about it, and Lillie were having a blast talking about it, but avoided all the dark stuff, as it just brought back memories she’d rather forget. Sol and Gladion didn’t hear to much about it, but already knew what it was about. While looking at them, Sol took a quick glance over at the blonde beside him and smirked.

«Now would you look at that...» he muttered softly. «...Romeo getting lost in front of _his_ Juliet...»

Gladion frowed and shot him a glare, but couldn’t fight the blush that appeared in mere seconds on his face. Sol started to laugh lightly, masking it to the best of his ability. Gladion’s frown just deepend, which made the Alolan champion laugh more and louder. Lillie and Luna heard, and could see that Sol apparently had a good time, cracking up while Gladion crossed his arms and scowled at him, growling lightly. Hau, Nate and Lucas heard him laugh and looked over at him, which made Hau laugh softly himself. Lillie and Luna stopped in front of them, looking rather confused at Sol as he wheezed and collected himself as good as possible, wiping the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. After he calmed down, they all got themselves ready and  got into the Royal Dome. Gladion had no plans on joining the battles and joined the two girls, watching the other four taking on a few rounds in the arena. Luna didn’t have any plans on joining either this time, watching the battles unfold in front of her. Lillie noticed that Gladion were unusually silent, as he would usually point out whatever Sol and Hau did wrong whenever he were watching, which he didn’t this time. He were also looking quite tense while sitting beside Luna, who were quite occupied with the battle in front of her. Avoiding to look at her at all cost gave it somewhat away, which made her incredibly curious.

«Brother?» she called for him lightly.

Both Gladion and Luna looked at her. «I need to talk to you for a few minutes.»

«About what?» he asked. Luna just shifted looks between the two.

«Aether stuff...I came to remember something Wicke told me to tell you...and i don’t know if it’s even classified or not.» she said, giving Luna an apologetic smile.

Luna shaked her head lightly. «Non, non...it’s fine. If you need to talk about anything business related, then don’t mind me.» she said lightly, smiling softly.

«We’ll be back.~» Lillie replied softly, getting up from her seat and grabbed Gladion’s sleeve as dragged him with her. Gladion didn’t even manage to get a word in before she dragged him with her out to the lobby area and away into a corner for some ‘privacy’.

Lillie placed her hands on her hips, looking up at her older sibling with a smug smile on her face. Gladion just looked at her. «What?» he asked, slightly hissing it at her.

«I know you have been on a date with her a month back, but i’m curious...» she started, humming softly. «Do you actually like her?»

«What makes you think that?» he replied rather quickly and snarky. He did fancy her, though, it was still a bit early for him to even say anything for sure, or if she even had the same feelings back.

Lillie hummed softly. «The fact that you avoid looking at her, despite it being so hard not to. It’s quite obvious, brother.» she said, swaying her hips in a sassy manner.

Gladion rolled his eyes and scoffed. «I’m just keeping my attention on the battle...» he started, thinking of talking the subject away.

«...And that you are unusually quiet, since you are always picking on how Sol and Hau are fighting in the arena does also say a lot.» she added. Gladion bit his tongue, looking down at her with quite the worried look, as he had just gotten caught doing something bad. Lillie raised her eyebrow, having a smug smirk on her lips. «I knew it!» she exclaimed, looking rather victorious.

Gladion were looking horrified at her, as he had just involuntarily confessed that he actually did like her, without words even. Lillie kept on giggling and lightly squealing, being quite excited that she had busted her own brother in fancying someone. Gladion started to panic and hissed for her to stop. «Stop it!» he hissed lightly at her. «You better fucking stop, Lillie!»

«Make me!» she replied in a smug voice, smirking at him.

She kept pestering him about it for a few more minutes before they both got inside of the Dome again, getting back to their seats. Lillie gave Luna a sweet smile as she sat down beside her, to which she gave her a soft smile back. Gladion sat down and quickly crossed his arms, looking as stoic as usual, but were quite flustered on the inside, wanting to just disappear from the entire situation and hide for the rest of the day. Luna noticed the stern look on his face, which was rather scary looking. Knowing that Lillie were his younger sister, she assumed she had said something to get on his nerves.

* * *

Sol, Hau and the two other champions were done taking on a few battles, and were sitting in the lobby at the Dome, talking and giving the two champs some tips on how to work the Royal better. They were listening carefully, but didn’t really understand to much about it, shrugging it off. Lillie and Luna arrived shortly after getting out of the sitting area of the Dome, while Gladion were taking his sweet time behind them, making himself look busy on his phone as he walked down the stairs to the others. Lillie rolled her eyes, keeping a smug grin on her face, to which he noticed and scoffed lightly at her. Luna were rather confused, since the two siblings had been on each others case since they walked into the Dome again, catching the rest of the battles. Lillie were discussing the battles with Luna, sounding overjoyed that she had another girl to talk with, having been feeling quite lonely as of lately, since the captains she would hang around with have been quite busy. Sitting in the lobby, Nate and Lucas decided that they would take a stroll around Route 6, train their pokemon and possibly catch some new Alolan ones while being around in the region. With that, they all decided to take their leave. Hau paged a Charizard and got over to Melemele in a hurry, saying something about Hala wanting his help with something. Sol just shaked his head, fully knowing it was Guzma who couldn’t do anything right while hanging around Iki Town.

Sol, Lillie and Gladion walked with the champions, letting Nate and Lucas go on their own as they got to Route 6. Lillie kept herself beside Luna, talking about fashion and comparing it with the Kalos fashion. Sol just shaked his head, smiling and chuckling lightly while Gladion were a few steps behind, keeping his eyes on her, just watching and listening to her soft laughter and movements. Getting to the main street, Lillie asked if Luna wanted to tag along one of the coming days to Malie, and take a look around the shopping street there, which she agreed to.

«I would love it.» she replied softly.

«Great!» she exclaimed and clapped her hands. Both Sol and Gladion heard her, but didn’t catch what they were saying and were looking over at them in confusion. «I’ll meet you at Malie then.» Lillie added.

«Bien sûr.~» Luna replied, smiling softly.

The two girls talked a little more back and forth before parting ways, Lillie walking over to Sol and Gladion. Luna bowed and gave them a small wave as she turned around, starting to head over to the resort. Watching her walk off, the three started to head over to the marine. Lillie kept a smug look on her face, looking up at her older sibling, which made him quite uncomfortable, sending her a glare back. Sol just kept himself quiet, not wanting to get between the two blondes and their shenanigans.

«What?» he hissed at her.

«Nothing…~» she replied in a singsong voice.

Gladion just growled to himself, narrowing his eyes. «I can already tell there is something. Spill it.»

Lillie giggled, while Sol started to gain some distance from them, not wanting to be a part of it in any way. He could hear Gladion snarl at her to stop with whatever she were planning on, to which Lillie replied with that she didn’t know what he was talking about. Sol paged for a Charizard in a hurry when he heard that they were slowly getting louder and wanting to leave before Lillie dragged him into it. He knew what it was about, at least from the look on Gladion’s face. As usual, Lillie would do her thing by ‘helping’, putting in a few good words so whoever her brother fancied at the time. Gladion and Lillie kept getting louder and louder, and they all stopped outside of the dimension lab.

«Lillie...Get off my case already!» he snarled.

Lillie just shaked her head vigorously. «Can’t do! You’ll probably mess everything up if i’m not around to help!»

«You are just making it worse!» he hissed.

«I’m definitely not!» she added, poking his chest. «The fact that your ex left says a lot!»

«Why are you even bringing her up? If you didn’t catch that already...she were after Aether. The company!» he hissed at her.

«And i didn’t help, which ended up with you getting someone toxic, brother!» she replied in a snarky tone, placing her hands on her hips.

«It’s still none of your business!» he snarled. He crossed his arms and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a loud, deep sigh of annoyance.

«Well it is now!» she replied in a sassy tone.

Gladion looked over at Sol for a brief second. «If you say so...» he said, muttering it silently.

Lillie noticed that he looked over at Sol, and knew that he knew she liked him, more than a friend. «Oh no...Don’t you dare.»

«Oy! Sol!» he shouted after him, seeing that Sol had just continued to walk off.

Sol sighed and hung his head, slowly turning around, only to see Lillie grab Gladion by his collar and pull him down. «Don’t you even dare!!» she snarled in a hushed voice to him.

«Then get off my case...» he snarled back in a hushed voice.

Lillie growled. «Fine...»

She let go of him and scoffed as she started to walk over to Sol. He asked what was going on, to which Lillie replied with ‘nothing.’ «Oh...okay. If you say so.»

_I didn’t really want to get dragged into it either…_

Continuing over to the Marine, Sol paged a Charizard. While he were waiting for the pokemon to arrive, Lillie and Gladion got onto the ferry over to Aether. Wicke had given him a quick message that he was needed to help out with something, and it would be quick. Lillie were still quite annoyed that he were about to tell Sol that she liked him, and kept ignoring him all the way over to the VLFS. As the two blondes got onto the ferry, the Charizard arrived, and Sol climbed onto it’s back, ordering it to get over to Mt. Lanakila, wanting to see if the Elite four were there, and if there was any challengers getting up and wanting to take him on.


	21. Panicked Question

2 months passed, and the meetings had been going on as usual. While the current meeting had just finished, Lusamine added that there would be an anniversary gala at Aether, and the champions were welcome to join if they wanted to. Being ‘afloat’ in Alola for years, it was time for another anniversary again, celebrating that the company were doing well and had gotten good connections in the different regions. Gladion wasn’t to happy about it, finding parties like that quite dull and uninteresting, but he had to be there, considering that he were going to take over the company at some point. He had also asked Luna out a few more times the past two months, getting to know her better and generally enjoying her company, as well as working on getting his Lucario to mega evolve. She had told him that there was a long road ahead before the pokemon could evolve, but she could at least see that there was some ‘improvement’. Sitting around the long table, Gladion glanced around, seeing the other champions looking rather tired and quite done with the entire project they had gotten themselves into, as well as Sol were slightly nodding off, making him shake his head and silently scoff at the guy. Luna had noticed a few minutes earlier and kept herself from giggling to loudly at the sight, but it became to much when Gladion looked at him and rolled his eyes, making her look away in an attempt to not burst out laughing.

Seeing that she turned to a different direction, doing her best to not laugh, Gladion got a soft smile on his lips. He quickly snapped out of the moment when Lusamine slammed the papers onto the table, making everyone flinch and give her their full attention. Even Sol woke up more by it, his eyes looking rather bloodshot from some late night challengers at the league the previous night. Lusamine repeated that they were all welcome to the party and concluded that the meeting were then over. The champions got their things and got up from the chairs, while Sol sat more back in the chair and stretched his arms and back, letting out a soft sigh. Luna got her bag and gathered her notebook and pen, putting it into it before getting up from the chair. Lusamine walked out and ended up chatting with Cynthia and Diantha about the gala, the two other former champions asking what type of a gala it was formal or not. Lusamine said that it was somewhat of a formal party, considering that it was an anniversary gala for Aether. Sol eventually got up from the chair and yawned that he would be heading home to get some sleep, which made Gladion sigh lightly.

«You don’t need to tell me that...» he replied.

Sol just waved his hand. «Yeah yeah...whatever. Good night by the way...» he muttered, yawning.

Gladion sighed again and got up from the chair, and as Sol walked out, Luna walked off as well. Standing there, watching her walk off made him think of the gala, knowing that it would be more acceptable to have a date, but didn’t really know how to ask her about it, as she most likely wouldn’t attend something so grand. He kept on standing here, placing his hands on the table while looking down at the board, counting the lines that he could see from the tree it was made of.

«You okay, Gladion?»

He looked up in a hurry, seeing Luna with a rather worried expression on her face. Lightly flinching, he nodded. «Yeah...Yeah...I’m fine.»

«Are you sure? You look like you have seen a ghost...» she said. She then looked around the room a little. «Which you might have...since i usually walk very silently...» she muttered softly, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks.

Gladion straightened up his pose and chuckled softly. «At least it’s a ghost i don’t mind...» he replied to her. «Why are you back in here though?» he then asked her, seeing that she had left, but came back in.

She held up her phone. «Dropped my phone.» she replied sweetly.

«Oh, right.» he muttered, nodding slightly.

«I’ll be off then. Au revoir.~» she said, putting her phone into her bag and gave him a small wave, starting to walk out.

Watching her walk out again, he started to panic and hurried to the door, calling her name before she got to far down the corridor. Standing in the doorway, watching her as she stopped and turned around to look at him, he panicked even more, his mind going blank, not planning to say anything to her in the first place. He started to mutter something, which she didn’t catch and tilted her head.

«Oui...?» she said softly, tilting her head at him, unsure of what he were saying. He kept on muttering something, though, it was slightly louder. Luna walked up closer to him. «What are you saying…?» she asked softly.

«Doyouwanttobemydateatthegala?» he managed to get out without breathing and in one setting, looking rather panicked. She were still confused, and when he saw he became beet red. Her big, grey eyes looking directly at him, clearly not hearing what he just said. He cleared his throat. «Do you want to...be my date at...the gala...?» he asked, taking it slower so she actually could hear him.

_ Oh Arceus…I said it…I actually asked... _

«Oui, bien sûr.~» she replied sweetly with a blush gracing her cheeks.

«What…? Really…?» he asked, clearly shocked that she actually agreed.

She nodded. «Bien sûr, monsieur.»

Gladion looked even more confused, looking around the corridor for an answer, which made him look more confused. Luna giggled softly, making him look at her. «That….went a bit to easy...» he muttered.

«Shouldn’t be too hard to ask, non?» she said softly. «It’s only a question after all.»

«I’m aware...» he muttered. He let out a soft sigh of relief. «Right...Gala...»

«Should i get here?» she asked lightly, watching him gather his composure again and slowly starting to relax.

«It’s happening here at Aether after all...So yeah. I’ll just pick you up at the docks...» he said, looking down at her.

Luna nodded. «I’ll let you know when i’m about to arrive then, oui?»

«Oui, bien sûr.» he replied softly to her, having a soft smile on his lips. Luna gave him a sweet smile and nodded.

He ended up walking with her down to the docks, watching her get on and the ferry to leave the Aether docks. Once the ferry had disappeared around the corner, he got a message from Lusamine that he was needed, and that there was some papers that needed to get done before the evening. He growled lightly to himself as he got over to the elevator again. Pushing the buttons on the triangle shaped elevator, he took a quick look over his shoulder, seeing the horizon, the soft smile reappeared again.

_ I actually asked...and she agreed… _

Getting up to the office area and found his way over to the main office, knowing that a mountain of documents were waiting for him. Lusamine would, as always, leave a bunch to him whenever he figured that she needed something else to do, which was rather annoying, but he didn’t mind at the same time, just taking it as some part of him getting ready to take over in a few years and getting used to the workload that would most likely happen. Walking down the corridor, passing a few employees and getting to the office, he stopped in front of the door, letting out a deep sigh before he opened it, walking in. He closed the door and looked over at the desk, expecting a few bundles, but instead, saw several ‘mountains’ of paperwork that Lusamine had left. His jaw dropped and just looked at the desk with big eyes, the irritation growing the more he looked at it.

«What the fuck are you even doing, mother...» he hissed as he walked over to the desk.

He sat down in the chair and kept looking at the piles of documents, as well a the small note in front of him from Lusamine, telling him that all of those needed to be done before the Aether Anniversary Gala. He ran his hand over his face in frustration, but started on a pile, hoping that it was some easy documents that didn’t need to much work before they were done, which it wasn’t. It was several forms that needed to be filled out.

«In the name of Arceus...» he growled, but started, just wanting to get it done as quickly as possible.

* * *

As Luna got off the ferry on Akala, she were starting to feel rather excited and figured that she could look after something to wear when she and Lillie were going to Malie in a day. Walking down the street, she got a call from Diantha, asking where she was and what she was doing, to which she replied that she were on her way to the resort, and didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day, and would most likely just stay around the resort and relax, as well as letting the pokemon she had with her roam around freely for a while. Diantha didn’t say anything about it and just hummed softly.

«Alright. I just wanted to make sure. I’m going to be around Cynthia for a while, just so you know if you are trying to get in touch with me.» she said.

Luna hummed softly. «Okay. Thanks for letting me know.» she replied.

Diantha hummed softly at the other end and hung up. Luna had stopped when talking, but started to head over to the resort again. As she put the phone back into her bag, she let the Vulpix out, letting it roam around her while heading back. The tiny pokemon looked quite pleased to be out of the pokeball again, but had slowly gotten used to being inside of it whenever Luna were at the meetings. Getting over to the resort, she noticed a girl standing there, looking rather proud with a golf club, talking on her phone with someone. Luna didn’t pay too much attention to her, but noticed that she were talking about the upcoming gala at Aether, and seemed excited for it. The Vulpix were skipping alongside Luna, but perked her ears when a familiar name were mentioned. Luna didn’t hear it, but noticed that the pokemon had stopped, and called for it.

«Neige...I need to carry you the rest of the way.» she said and squatted down, motioning for it to jump up into her arms. The pokemon ran over to her and jumped up, giving a content cry. Luna chuckled softly as she got up on her feet again, holding the pokemon gently as she walked in.

The girl looked over her shoulder, seeing that Luna were walking into the lobby with the Vulpix in her arms. She didn’t pay her much attention and shrugged, continuing with her conversation with whoever that was on the other side of her phone. Walking into the lobby and over to the elevator, she pushed on the button and started to wait for the elevator to arrive, which took a few minutes. As it arrived, a message arrived on her phone. She walked in, pushed the button for her floor and found her phone, seeing a message from Gladion, with a photo attached. Luna tilted her head a little, but opened it up, seeing a photo of several piles of documents.

_ What is she thinking….?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Luna giggled, as it was clearly sent to her by a mistake. The pokemon in her arm gave a confused cry. She looked at the pokemon and smiled softly. «Just a message that wasn’t meant to me.»

_ Should i get back to Aether and keep you company behind all of that?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Wrong number!...I’m sorry...  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ It’s fine. Will you be fine though? It’s an awfully a lot of papers…?  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ I’ll be fine...I meant to send that image to Lillie…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ I noticed. Hehe.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Luna were giggling softly, and could clearly see that he were slightly panicking on the other side, at least from the constant typing bubble on her screen, making it seem that he were typing something really long. Standing in the elevator, the Vulpix got out of her arm and jumped up to her shoulder, sitting there and started to look around. The music in the elevator was as bad as usual, making the pokemon drop its ears slightly before looking down at her phone, watching the screen. Luna had replied that it was fine if he needed to rant, since it looked like a massive workload for only one person. He replied with that he was fine and it just looks like a lot.

_ I’ll leave you to it then. Good luck.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Thanks...I think i need it…  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Luna flinched when the elevator stopped and the doors abruptly opened in front of her. She let out a soft sigh and walked out, with her phone on her hand and the pokemon on her shoulder. The Vulpix gave a soft cry, and rubbed it’s cheek against hers on their way to her room. Luna giggled softly, feeling its soft, cold fur against her skin were somewhat feeling refreshing. She had a faint blush on her cheeks, and it had been lingering since Gladion asked her to be his date at the Anniversary Gala at Aether in a few days. She couldn’t help but to smile softly, feeling excited.


	22. Preperations

A few days had passed, and the Anniversary Gala were happening this evening. Lusamine were in the event hall at Aether, making sure that everything of decorations were going up the way she liked it, with a little help from Wicke and Lillie, the two being around just wanting to take a look. Gladion were, and had, been busy with the mountains of documents, but were close to being done. Faba had been walking in and out of the office, scoffing and generally being his usual self around him, as well as trying to slow down his work pace. It happened so much that morning that Gladion gradually got irritated, and were ready to throw the pen he had on hand at him, clenching it hard in his hand.

«This company would have been so much better off if miss Lusamine would just give me a chance.» Faba said quite loudly.

«Should you even be saying that?» Gladion hissed at him, keeping his eyes down at the papers.

«I’m free to express my opinion, young Master.» he lightly snarled back at him.

Gladion just scoffed and shaked his head, continuing with the documents. «If you really value your position...I think you should  _ those _ opinions to yourself...» he started, looking up from the papers.

Faba scoffed. «And what makes you say that?» he asked, interrupting him.

«...As i will make sure that you are the first to go when i take over this company.» Gladion added, hissing it at him.

Faba’s eyes grew wide. «What a funny joke, young Master. I’m laughing on the inside.» he hissed back at him, looking around the office in a snobbish way.

Gladion looked down at the desk again, changing documents from one pile to another slowly getting through, only for Wicke to knock and interrupt after a few minutes. The busty woman poked her head inside, giving them both a warm smile before saying that  _ Miss Mahina _ was around. The two males got confused, not knowing who this  _ Mahina _ was, which made Wicke giggle softly. She opened the door more fully, and waved for someone on the side to get closer.

Wicke smiled softly and looked over at Gladion. «She said that you had been asking for her.» she said, which made Gladion even more confused, as he had been keeping his nose down at the documents.

Wicke stepped out of the way and made room for the female Wicke talked about to walk in, which happened to be Luna. She walked in and Wicke motioned for Faba to follow her, which made him roll his eyes and sigh, walking past the Kalosian champion, looking rather grumpy. Wicke looked over at Gladion, and could see that he were really confused, and then knew that Lillie had been involved one way or another. The busty woman then closed the door, letting them be alone.

Luna waved and gave him a sheepish smile when she noticed the confused expression on him. «Bonjour...Lillie said that you had been asking...» she muttered softly.

Gladion let out a soft, silent sigh. «Right...Lillie...» he muttered silently to himself.

«I can leave again...» she said softly and pointed at the door over her shoulders, taking a few steps back towards it.

Seeing her back off, making him slightly panic and didn’t want to seem rude now that she had just arrived. «No! No...it’s fine. I could need the company...» he muttered, looking down at the desk for a few seconds before he looked up at her again.

She were smiling softly and nodded. «If you say so. Just let me know if me being around is to distracting, oui?»

«Bien sûr.» he replied, giving her a light nod. «You won’t be distracting, though, i might be very silent.» he added.

Luna hummed softly and nodded. «That’s fine.»

Gladion got back into the paperwork, while Luna sat down in the chair in front of the desk, looking around the office. He were completely distracted when she were around, despite the room being silent and she not doing or saying anything, he kept glancing up at her, seeing that she were looking around the office. It was very silent, a bit to silent for his liking, despite people passing the door out in the corridor. The urge to get rid of the silence grew within, only to get interrupted when a loud crash were heard out in the corridor, making a pile of the documents shift weight on the desk, and fall down, scatter everywhere on the floor. Luna flinched at the loud noise, but as the pile fell over, the two looked rather dumbfounded as it just fell to the floor. Gladion sighed and facepalmed, pinching the bridge of his nose before he got up from the chair, and got over to the side of the desk. Luna got up as well, placing her bag in the chair and walked over, starting to help him gather the documents.

«You don’t have to help picking these up...» he muttered, looking rather embarrassed by the situation and all the papers laying all over the floor.

«I’ll just feel bad if i’m not helping. I’m around anyway, and it’ll go quicker if i help too.» she replied. Gladion nodded and hummed softly.

He kept looking over at her, wondering why Lillie were trying to play matchmaker on him with her. Sure, he found her attractive, and they have had a few dates the past months but knowing that she was from Kalos, and the region were around 24 hours away with a plane, it would be an idiotic decision to get even closer to her. The thoughts kept going around in his mind, but at the same time, he didn’t really want to let the chance slide either, not after finally finding someone that caught his attention. While they were picking up the documents and getting them over to the desk again gradually, they could hear Lusamine in the distance, sounding rather annoyed at whoever she were talking to. Gladion just shaked his head, being happy that it wasn’t him for once that got the scolding. Lusamine were sounding rather irritated, or upset about some of the decorations for the Gala that evening, and kept telling whoever she were talking to that they were wrong, and had to be reordered, making sure that it was the right one. The one she was scolding replied rather softly and nodded, telling her that they would do whatever in their power to get it right before the big event. Hearing that the person left, and that Lusamine were approaching the office, but passed quickly, grumbling that she needed to fix something with the people that were fixing the food, making sure that everything there was in order and were arriving at time. Gathering the rest of the documents off the floor and placing them on the desk, Gladion got back to work, finishing what was left of the documents and then asked her if she wanted to look around the VLFS.

«If i’m allowed to look around, then i would love to.» she replied, giving him a sweet smile.

«I don’t really mind...Dragging out time...» he said.

«And not to get anything else of documents to work on?» she added for him, taking him off guard as he looked at her with big eyes. «Am i right?» she asked, giving him a playful wink.

He chuckled softly and gained a faint blush on his cheeks. «Heh...Busted.» Luna chuckled softly as he got up from the chair again, walking up to her side and representing her arm to her. «On y va?»

Luna got up from the chair as well and hung her bag on her shoulder linking her arm with his. «Oui. Allons-y.~» she said softly.

Walking out of the office, they walked in the opposite direction of the elevator, wanting to be out of sight and away from the crowd of tourists that were taking the main elevator up to the different sightseeing routes that Aether had set up for the summer season. Getting around and up to the conservation area, they stayed clear from the many tourists that were around, keeping the walk on the paths that were closed off from people beside employees and a few others. Gladion mentioned it to her, which made her nervous.

«Should i even be here then?» she muttered.

«You are fine. You are wandering around with me...and i kinda own this place.» he replied.

«I guess that’s true...» she said softly, followed by a soft hum.

He let out a soft chuckle. «We usually keep more pokemon in the back, not wanting to ‘showcase’ everyone that ain’t used to people.» he said, turning a corner. «It’s just down this path.» he added, guiding her with him.

Walking a bit further down the path, more pokemon became visible in the different areas, and quite a few Alolan pokemon that Luna haven’t seen yet, making her look around in awe. Walking around, they stopped and watched a small herd of Rockruff’s playing around, with a Midnight form Lycanroc watching over them. The evolved pokemon looked over at them, and gave a soft growl, greeting them. Gladion gave a light nod back at the pokemon, which made Luna a little confused, something he noticed.

«It’s just my Lycanroc. I let him stay around with the Rockruff’s whenever he wants to.» he said.

Luna looked up at him. «Oh? How come?»

«Just letting him help around, and he seems to like hanging around them.» Gladion added, nodding slightly. «Want to go over to them?» he then asked.

«Are you sure? Ain’t they suppose to get ready for the wild again, and ain’t they...wild again?» she asked, sounding quite unsure.

«They are some of the most docile pokemon around in Alola, so it should be fine.» he replied and got over to the railings.

Luna let go of him and watched him climb over, noticing that the pokemon didn’t seem to bother stop playing, and just gave him a quick look as they kept on playing. Gladion’s Lycanroc watched them, but kept itself on its spot, keeping an eye on the other pokemon around him. Once Gladion were on the other side, he nodded for Luna to do the same. She hesitated, looking around  to see if someone saw them, to which he said that it’s fine. She climbed over and got beside him, looking rather nervous. Gladion walked towards them a little, Luna following after him as they approached them. Gladion got over to his pokemon and sat down beside it, placing his hand on its head. Luna sat down on her knees, opposite of him looking over at the Rockruff’s continue to play and slowly stop, getting curious at the two humans that were around, especially Luna, who they haven’t seen before. Gladion were lightly scratching the head of the Lycanroc, keeping Luna in his sight from the corner of his eyes. She were rather nervous, but as the small pokemon came closer to her, sniffing and climbing into her lap, being as curious as they could get. She smiled softly, greeting them with a soft voice as not to scare them off now that they were so close to her. The Lycanroc noticed the lingering gaze from its trainer, giving him a light nudge and a grin. Gladion giving the pokemon a glare as it got up on its feet, finding its way over to Luna, which made him slightly panic. The pokemon gave a soft growl, sitting down slightly in front of her.

«Bonjour.~» she greeted it, giving it a sweet smile as she picked up a Rockruff, gently holding it in her arms.

Gladion sat there, watching her interact with the pokemon around her. Her soft speech, soft chuckles and her sweet smile made his heart jump a little, as well as a slight pain could be felt on his chest, but it wasn’t too noticeable, being to busy looking at her. He kept watching her, and came to remember that the Gala were happening that evening, but didn’t want to interrupt her, seeing that she were looking quite content and happy interacting with the pokemon, and it seemed that the Rockruff’s had a great time as well. Sitting around for a while longer, she mentioned that she probably should get going, considering that the Gala were that evening, and she wanted to take her time to get ready. Gladion nodded and got up on his feet while she said goodbye to the pokemon around her, getting up onto her feet as well, dusting off her pants a little. Not wasting to much time, they quickly got over to the railings and climbed over, only for Luna to slightly slip, face planting into his chest a little. She looked up and their eyes met for a brief second, only to quickly look away again, and for her to quickly move off him. Both giving off a nervous chuckle, they started to walk down the path and over to the main elevator, it being the quickest way to get down to the docks. Taking the elevator down, they stood beside each other in silence all the way down, only saying that they’ll see each other later that evening again before she boarded the ferry over to Akala. Getting on board the ferry, she turned and gave him a sweet smile.

«Thanks for showing me around.~» she said cheerfully with a faint blush on her cheeks.

«Don’t mention it, despite that it wasn’t a lot to see either...» he muttered.

Luna shaked her head. «I got see a few new pokemon, so i’ll call that a good day.» she said, followed by a soft chuckle. «Au revoir.~» she added as the horn on the ferry went off, indicating that the ferry were about to leave the Aether docks, and that people should hurry on board and find a seat. She gave him a small wave, to which he waved slightly back at her, watching her walk into the ferry to find a seat.

He didn’t stand around for to long, getting over to the elevator once she was inside the ferry. He pushed on the button for the entrance area, thinking of taking his time to get ready, mostly mentally for the evening that was about to happen.


	23. Before the Storm

After Luna had left, Gladion got back up to the entrance area. Once there, he bumped into Wicke, who were looking quite stressed, while Faba were standing beside her, facepalming. Apparently Lusamine had asked her to find something, which she didn’t know were was, and Faba definitely had no idea, much less of what was going on, beside the Gala that evening. She saw him and gave him a sweet smile, only for him to ask what she was looking for and why she were panicking like that. She told him that she couldn’t find that specific item that Lusamine had requested, which were rather something important for the decorations. Gladion already knew where that was and told her were to find it, which she sighed at, since she had already been there, but didn’t find it.

«It should be in that room...» Gladion said, shrugging.

«That’s fine young Master. I’ll be sure to look better this time.» she replied with a sweet smile. «Thank you for telling me.» she added and started to walk off.

Faba were still standing on his spot, sighing loudly. Wicke then turned towards him and cleared her throat, giving him a look that he should tag along. Faba slightly flinched and didn’t look happy as he slowly found his way over to her side, following after her towards the room where the item supposedly were. Watching the two walk off, and Faba who continued to follow after her, not looking happy made him chuckle lightly, finding the sight of the older guy quite funny. Walking off towards the mansion and getting inside, he heard that Lillie were home, doing whatever she were doing and were quite loud about it. He just rolled his eyes and walked towards his room, thinking of taking his time on getting ready, not wanting to dull the reputation of his date, the champion of Kalos. Getting to his room and walking inside, Butterfrees were slowly appearing in his abdomen, making him feel mixed emotions. Nervous because of the Gala on it’s own, not liking the massive crowd that will appear, but it was something he had to do. But he were mostly nervous, and a little scared, since Luna were going to be his date, and he knew she made him quite irrational whenever she were around him. Making him lose his mind and usually just say something in the spur of the moment, which was very strange when it came to him. Closing the door to his room and locking it, he went over to the closet finding the suit he would be wearing and got it out, putting the hanger out in front of the closet door.

He sighed deeply. «I hate these things...» he muttered for himself.

* * *

People gathering at the massive hall being used at Aether, and Lillie were walking around, taking in the sight of the massive place. It was as usual. Lots of decorations including ribbons, flowers and other trinkets to make it look nice and presentable. While she were looking around, Gladion got into the hall, fixing the tie as he started to look around. There was already a lot of people, and many of the former champions of the different regions were there, as well a few of the current ones. Lillie skipped over to him, placing her hands behind her back and gave him a big grin. Gladion narrowed his eyes at her, frowning hard.

«And what’s with the look?» he lightly hissed at her.

«Oh, nothing...Here alone or having a date?» she asked, trying to sound uninteresting while she looked around a little more.

«Why asking?» he muttered, looking around a little himself.

Lillie perked up, looking up at him. «Oh! You do have a date!» she exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement.

Gladion scoffed, shaking his head. «It’s not that big of a deal...» he muttered.

«It is a big deal! It’s been years since you have asked anyone to join you on these things, brother.» she said, wriggling her body a little, giggling softly. Gladion just growled at her lightly.

After a while, Sol and Hau arrived, alongside Hala, Olivia and Nanu, who had decided to join as well. They all walked straight up to the two siblings, congratulating them on the anniversary of the company, to which they thanked them for before they scattered. Sol and Hau stood around, talking with them, or rather, talking with Lillie. Hau were looking around, making sure that the table of food were always in sight, while Sol kept throwing compliments to Lillie, being the smug champion he was known to be. Lillie were blushing like mad, getting really timid and shy as he kept on. Gladion kept an eye on him, at least until his attention got interrupted when he looked at the entrance, seeing that Wicke were trying to wave him over to her. He sighed softly and excused himself, walking over to her.

«Young Master...It seems that your partner for the evening is about to arrive. I suggest you get down and wait for her.» she said with a sweet smile.

Gladion got beet red and nodded. «Right...Thanks for letting me know...» he muttered and walked past her.

Getting over to the elevator, he had to wait a few seconds before it arrived with more people, wanting to attend the Gala and generally just get a feeling of what it was. Waiting for them to get off, he quickly got on and pushed on the button for the dock area. Putting his hands into his pockets, the railings got up and the elevator started to descend. The Butterfrees he felt earlier were coming back, feeling nervous and his mind starting to go haywire, debating if he should run away like usual. It all became to late when the elevator stopped, making him look out at the horizon. Taking a deep breath, he got off the elevator and walked over to the edge, looking down at the ocean water hitting the side of the VLFS. Looking up and out at the horizon again, he noticed the ferry were arriving, so he took a few steps away from the edge, letting the people dock up and let people off the ferry. Letting the nervousness get him, he started to fiddle with the tie, feeling that it was to tight around his neck when the ferry came more into view. The closer the ferry got to the docks, the more he stepped backwards, unconsciously starting to hide. The ferry stopped and docked up at the VLFS, starting to let people off. Knowing that he were somewhat hiding out of pure habit, he stepped out a few steps, getting a clear view of who came off the ferry. Seeing people walk past him, looking rather fancy, he let out a light sigh, not seeing who he was waiting for. Starting to get a little disheartened, he took a last look over at the ferry, only for him to gawk. Luna had been waiting until everyone were off before she decided to walk off, lightly and gracefully stepping off the ferry and onto the VLFS. She were wearing a knee high, tight fitting black dress, with one strap over her left shoulder. She had black pumps on, and a small, matching purse with a few golden accents, as well as her hair were put up in a fancy looking ponytail. She got off, standing there and fixing her dress, making sure that it was sitting on her correctly, and that her shoes were on her comfortably. Letting out a soft, silent sigh, she looked up, seeing that Gladion were standing a little further away from her, waiting. She didn’t notice that he were gawking at her, staring at her with big eyes and a massive blush across his face.

«Bonsoir.~» she said lightly and walked over to him.

He cleared his throat silently. «Bonsoir.» he replied back to her, looking her down all over again as she approached.

She had gained a faint blush on her cheeks as well when walking up to him. She had seen her fair share of sharply dressed men, but no one managed to sway her the same way that Gladion did at this moment, making her face heat up like nothing she had felt before. She was slightly conscious of wearing this dress, it having her back slightly bare, thinking that people would see the marking she had gotten a few months earlier, which had grown into a stem, with a few indications that flowers were going to bloom at some point. Gladion’s mark on his chest had grown to the point that it was moving down his torso, looking like wines with a few flower-like markings, looking like they were going to bloom soon as well. He let out a soft, silent sigh, moving to her side and presenting his arm to her.

«Shall we?» he asked gently, having a soft smile on his face, doing his best to hide that he were utterly nervous.

Luna smiled sweetly and linked her arm with his. «Oui.~» she replied softly. She were rather surprised and impressed, but didn’t know why she were feeling that way, and clearly didn’t care at this point.

She were planning to wear a more elaborate dress, but after wearing it on the date that ended up with Gladion saving her, she didn’t want to wear it, not wanting to remember those bad moments of that evening. Walking over to the elevator, they had to wait for a few seconds before it arrived at the docks again, letting people off at the entrance floor first. As it got down, they got onto it, as well as a few other people that were waiting for it to arrive. They got one, and one of the employees to Aether pushed on the button, letting the railings get up and then starting to ascend to the designated floor where the party were taking place. They were listening to the few others that were on the elevator as well, talking on how they felt that the ferry ride over were to long and generally complaining about it, considering that they were going to Aether, and felt like they should have had a better and more luxurious ride to the VLFS. Gladion just raised an eyebrow at what they were saying, while Luna giggled softly. She found the ferry charming and liked the ride over, finding some time to clear her mind, if she could manage to do so at least. The ride over to Aether proved to be a challenge to make herself calm down. Gladion then asked if the ride over were as horrendous as he heard the others were saying that it was.

Luna giggled softly and shaked her head. «No. They are just exaggerating...and apparently looking for something they can’t get.»

Gladion hummed softly. «Which would be what?»

«Luxury.» she flatly replied to him with a soft smile.

«Right...I keep forgetting that this place...» he started, pausing while looking up. «Is not  _ ordinary _ ...so to speak.»

Luna giggled softly. «It should be expected. This place is floating in the middle of the ocean after all.»

Gladion let out a sheepish chuckle. «Yeah...»

They continued to have some idle small talk on the way up until the elevator stopped and the railings got down. Still having their arms linked, they walked off and headed towards the hall were the party were held. Getting to the hall and walking in, Lillie, Sol and Hau almost immediately got around them, giving Gladion a cheeky and knowingly smirk, which made him quite red, frowning at the three. Luna were confused, but that subsided quite quickly when Lillie greeted her sweetly. Both Sol and Hau looked her down, exchanging looks before looking over at Gladion, giving him a smug smirk. Gladion’s frown got even more prominent the more the smirk on their faces grew, to the point that he were almost scowling at them, giving them both a harsh glare. Sol and Hau just chuckled silently, which was something he didn’t find funny, silently hissing at them. Luna looked up at him, seeing that he were giving the two others a glare, making them chuckle. She looked over at Lillie again, who just shrugged and shaked her head.

«Let them be...they are always like that...» she told her in a hushed voice.

«Oh...Okay...» she muttered softly.

After a few more shenanigans between them, Lillie dragged the two with her, knowing that Hau would dive into the food and, hopefully, avert his attention somewhere else. Same with Sol, though, he kept his attention on Lillie, and slightly on Gladion, wanting to know, and see, if he would pull of a move on her.


	24. Start of Something

Wandering around the hall, Gladion found himself getting dragged into a few conversations by Lusamine, wanting to let him do most of the talking if there was any questions about Aether. She just wanted to see if he could handle all the questions, as well as represent Aether properly. He wasn’t too fond of it, but couldn’t complain either, knowing that it would be something he had to do when he would take over. Taking over was something he have had on his mind for years, and had been working up to it, but he did question himself about it, starting to wonder if it was something he really wanted or that he just did it out of habit of making someone around him pleased. Luna were tagging along, being quite used to gatherings like these, but could see that it was quite a hassle for him, thinking that she were the problem of him sounding rather stiff and serious when talking. Mostly standing in one spot, Luna were looking around at the many others, seeing a handful of people she had at least seen or met once, like Olivia and the trial Captains of Akala. Gladion saw in the corner of his eyes that she were looking around, thinking that she might be bored.

«If it’s to boring, just let me know...» he muttered softly to her.

Luna looked up at him with a soft smile. «Oh, no. It’s fine. I’m just looking around.»

«You sure?» he asked softly.

Luna hummed softly and nodded. «I’m sure. Thank you for asking though.~» she said with a sweet smile.

Lusamine had left the group after a while before he asked her, which some of the others around take some more interest in who Luna was, not seen her around before and that she were very well behaved in a setting like this. One of them cleared their throat, looking directly at Gladion. «And...Who is this young lady, if i may ask?»

The two looked up, seeing that their eyes were all on them. «Right...» Gladion muttered softly. «This is Luna, she’s the champion of Kalos, and my partner for the evening..» he told them flatly.

Luna bowed lightly. «Bonjour.~» she greeted them politely.

They all bowed and greeted her back, looking rather impressed, which caught someone else’s attention in the room, some feet away from the group. It was a girl, and she wasn’t looking happy that Gladion were with someone else, starting to fume from the sight. Seeing that the two were finishing up the conversation and started to move away from the group, politely excusing themselves while finding their way over to the table were the drinks were placed. Getting around the crowd and over to the table, Gladion grabbed a glass and handed it over to her.

«Here.» he said lightly, giving her the glass that were filled up with something that looked like champagne.

«Merci.~» she softly replied, taking the glass on hand.

Gladion took a glass for himself and took a sip while turning towards her, looking around the hall and at the many people that were scattered around. The girl that were keeping an eye on them turned her back at them, making sure that she wasn’t seen when he were looking around. Looking around the hall and at the people while lightly sipping on the drink, the girl who kept an eye on Gladion decided to approach Luna when he excused himself, getting dragged away by Lillie around a corner. While he were gone, she walked up to her side, grabbing a glass and taking a sip of the liquid.

«So...» she started, looking down into the glass, getting Luna’s attention. «..How do you know Gladion?» she asked in a snarky tone.

Luna looked at her, slightly confused by the snarky tone. «Oh...Well...Through meetings at Aether, and from a few times hanging out with him.» she replied softly, giving her a sheepish smile.

«Well...You can just stop doing that, and leave him alone all together...Since you have no chance on someone like him.» she said, which made Luna even more confused.

She knew she were attracted to him, but were almost sure that he were just nice and needed a pretty face around him for this event. «Excuse me…?» she muttered.

As she said that, the girl hissed at her, poking her hard on her shoulder. «Didn’t you hear me? He. Is. Mine. Get lost, girlie.» she snarled harshly.

Luna were taken aback, and didn’t really know how to reply or react, just looking at her dumbfounded. The girl kept on snarling at her, still poking her shoulder hard. The girl eventually groaned and flicked her fingers on Luna’s glass, asking if she were listening at all at her. As she flicked her fingers at the glass, it shattered, a few of the shards cutting her hand up, as well as the drink spilling out onto the floor. Gladion were on his way back after Lillie had a few words with him, and saw that the glass just ‘exploded’ in her hand, making him hurry over to her. The girl snorted and chuckled mischievously, only to get silent when Gladion got over again, looking at Luna in slight horror.

«By Arceus...Are you okay?» he asked, seeing several cuts on her hand.

Luna put the glass carefully onto the table beside her and nodded. «I’m fine.»

Gladion sent glare to the girl who were beside them, making her slowly back away and walked off. Looking over at Luna again, she had found a tissue and wrapped it around her hand. «Come on...I know there is a first aid kit in the small room next to this hall.» he said softly, looking at her hand that were covered up in a white tissue.

Luna sighed silently and nodded, humming softly. Gladion placed his hand on her lower back, guiding her with him out of the hall. Turning the corner, the girl from earlier were fuming at the sight, taking deep breaths in order to try and calm herself down as she turned her back at the sight, scoffing. Getting out of the hall and around the corner, heading towards the room beside. As they got there he opened the door and let her in first as he got the lights on, heading over to a cabinet, trying to remember where it was. While looking around, he told her to take a seat while he found it, which she did, pulling a chair out from the table that were in the room, sitting down. He eventually found it and got it out, walking over to her and taking a chair beside her, turning towards her, and scooting closer, leaning over a bit to her. She had bled through the tissue as he opened up the aid kit, getting out some bandages and cleaning equipments. Gently taking her hand in his, he carefully removed the tissue, seeing the few cuts she had gotten. He carefully started to clean up the cuts, and as he did, he started to get conscious about how small her hand was, making sure that he were careful while tending her cuts. Luna were watching him carefully clean the cuts up, and then put on some small bandages on them. After finishing patching her up, he kept holding her hand gently, running his thumb softly over the bandages, and slightly over her skin.

He looked up, meeting her grey eyes. «You should be fine now...» he muttered softly.

«Thank you.» she replied softly, nodding.

He kept his eyes on her as she looked down at her hand, looking at the patchwork he had done on her. «What did she say to you? The girl from earlier…?» he asked finding some bandage and started to wrap it around her hand.

She hummed softly. «Nothing of importance really...» she replied, looking up and met his eyes again. «...She sounded more jealous than anything else.» she added. «You know her?»

«Yeah...» he muttered softly, looking down at her hand in his again, still gently running his thumb over her skin. «Sorry about that...» Luna hummed softly and shaked her head, telling him that it was fine and not his fault.

For the rather short exchange of words, they both had unconsciously moved closer to each other, and didn’t stop when their eyes met again. Slowing inching closer to each other, slowing tilting their heads to the side and slowly letting their eyes close up. Getting lost in the moment, their lips lightly touched, making both of their hearts skip a beat. Parting from the light soft kiss, their noses were lightly touching, lips hovering over each other while their breaths started to pick up, slightly getting heavy, looking into each others eyes. They didn’t hesitate when they both leaned in again, locking their lips. Gladion moved his hand up to her neck, gently pulling her closer to him as their kept sharinga few soft, gentle kisses. Breaking it, their eyes met again, which made Luna avert her eyes, having a timid smile on her lips, to which he smiled softly, reaching for her chin and lifted her up, placing another soft kiss on her lips. They could hear Wicke in the hallway, calling for him in a rather stressed manner, having gotten to know that Luna had been slightly hurt by one of the waiters around the massive hall.

«We should probably leave...» Luna muttered softly.

«Most likely...» he muttered softly back.

Moving away from each other and getting up from the chairs, Gladion closed off the aid kit, but left it on the table. Luna had moved away from the table, towards the door a little before she stopped, looking at her hand with the bandage on. Gladion got over to her right side, reaching for her arm, linking them. Luna didn’t hesitate to reach for his hand, intertwining their fingers as they walked out. Their hearts pounding hard and loudly in their chests, but it felt like the final piece of the puzzle were set in place, it all feeling quite natural. They walked down the corridor and headed back into the massive hall, mixing up with the crowd again, but kept themselves close to each other. After walking around for a while, they ended up getting dragged into another group that Lusamine had gathered around herself. They stood there, listening and Gladion occasionally replying as usual, though, he was getting very tired of the ordeal, and his mind being quite preoccupied. Lusamine didn’t notice that they had their fingers intertwined, only that they had their arms linked and that her left hand were bandaged up.

She moved closer to Luna, looking and slightly pointing at her hand. «What happened? If i may ask?»

Luna looked up at her. «Oh...One of the glasses just exploded in my hand...» she replied, followed by a sheepish chuckle.

«The glasses are old and worn...It was bound to happen at some point.» Gladion added, been listening to his mother's question.

Lusamine nodded. «Oh. Sorry that happened to you, young champion.» she replied, looking at her. «I hope you cleaned it properly and no infections will happen.»

«Thank you for your concern, miss Lusamine. I’m sure i’ll be fine.» Luna replied softly.

«Let’s hope so.» Lusamine replied, going back to the conversation with the others in the group.

Gladion’s frown got more prominent, and didn’t like the tone his mother were using, sounding quite condescending and rude. Leaning a bit over to Luna. «Sorry about that...» he muttered. «She had a bad habit of sounding rude...» he said to her in a hushed voice.

Luna gave him a reassuring smile. «It’s fine. I guess it’s just taking its toll on being polite and nice to everyone.»

«Maybe, but i have my doubts.» he replied to her. Luna gave a half hearted chuckle. Gladion looked around a little more. «Let’s wander around some  more...I need some fresh air after all of this...Aether talk.» he added, muttering it to her.

Luna hummed softly and nodded. «Oui, bien sûr.~»

Gladion excused them from the group and started to walk around a little in the hall, just generally looking at people talking and seemingly having a good time. Getting something to eat, they found their way out of the hall again and walking down the corridor, away from the party, which made her rather suspicious and confused. Not saying anything, they ended at the end of the corridor, and Gladion opening a door, feeling some chilly air gently breeze by them. Walking in, he reached for the lightswitch, and got a few of the lights on, lighting the place up a little. It looked like the conservation area, but without the paths and the railings.

«Are we at the conservation area?» she asked, looking up at him.

Gladion shaked his head. «No. This is a seperate area. Still no pokemon around here as it’s still getting worked on.» he replied to her. Luna nodded slightly, looking around. «It’s the only place where we can artificially change the seasons...or at least that’s the plan.»

«That’s quite the feature.» she muttered softly.

«It’s still a work in progress.» he replied rather flatly.

Starting to walk around a little, finding their way through the trees and bushes, since there wasn’t a path, which he explained why there wasn’t any for the time being, and most likely wouldn’t be one. Luna nodded and hummed softly in response, keeping her eyes around the place, the chilly air feeling quite refreshing and clean. They didn’t walk to far away from the entrance they walked through, stopping somewhere around the middle of the place, turning towards her, while still having their fingers intertwined with each others. Luna were looking around, but had turned her front towards him, not noticing that he were looking at her profile. He quickly averted his gaze when she looked up at him, catching him look away in a hurry. She reached for his cheek with her bandaged hand, forcing him to look at her.

«Am i that terrifying?» she asked in a jokingly manner, giving him a soft smile.

He lightly scoffed. «No...» he muttered, shaking his head lightly, cracking a sheepish smile.

«Is it because i’m a champion?» she then asked.

He looked at her, narrowing his eyes on her. «I’ll admit...that is a little terrifying.» he replied, giving her a smirk.

Luna giggled softly, removing her hand from his cheek, muffling the giggle which made his smirk grow into a soft smile. Reaching for her and lifting up her chin, he leaned down, placing his lips onto hers gently.


	25. The Final Piece

Sharing a few soft kisses, they kept wandering around the place a little, taking in the sight of the artificial nature, keeping their arms linked. With faint blushed on both cheeks, it were rather strangely comfortable being around each other, at least for him, not being used to have this certain type of comfort around him, nor feeling it. Him being so used to feeling quite tense and rather unsure around people, no matter who they were. It was just plain muscle memory for him to act calm around others, as well as talking Aether business. Luna were feeling slightly scared, not feeling sure about the situation, yet, it was quite comfortable, and she didn’t want to let that go. Having something new on her mind to think about, she definitely decided to play along, despite her feelings going haywire. She shaked her head slightly as a soft smile crept its way onto her lips, the faint blush getting slightly darker on her cheeks.

_ I’ll think about it later...and just enjoy the evening for now… _

Walking around, they ended up at the entrance, where they walked in. They stopped and looked at each other for a brief second before he asked if they should head back to the party again. Luna nodded and hummed softly, adding that it would be for the best, not to worry anyone. Gladion nodded slightly, agreeing, already knowing that Lillie would freak out if she didn’t spot him once in a while at  _ any _ Aether event. Getting out of the  _ new _ conservation area, they headed back to the hall were the event was. Getting back to the hall, Lusamine were in the middle of the floor, having some speech on how grateful she was for the growth of the company, and that she hoped for many more years of growth and along side amazing people along the way, gesturing to some of the champions in the room, as well as their mentors, the former champions. Gladion and Luna were stepping to the side, listening while standing close to the wall. Gladion were looking rather serious while listening to Lusamine, which Luna noticed and gave him a light squeeze in his hand, snapping him out of his own thoughts, making him looks down at her. She gave him a soft smile, which made him smile softly back at her.

«Sorry...Got lost in my own thoughts there for a second...» he muttered.

«I noticed.» she replied softly. «It’s quite alright though.»

He sighed softly and shaked his head slightly, hearing her give off a soft giggle. Lillie noticed them in the distance, seeing that her brother were looking rather comfortable around someone for a change, which was a strange sight, making her gawk at the sight, which caught Sol’s attention, looking in the same direction.

He lightly nudged her. «Seems like your brother got a new girl.» he said in a hushed voice, a grin slowly forming.

«Uhuh...» Lillie replied lightly, slightly nodding while still being utterly surprised by the sight.

«We’ll grill him about it in a few days or so...» Sol added, letting out a soft chuckle. Lillie frowned and turned to look at him, placing her hands on her hips. Sol shrugged. «What?»

«Don’t you dare ‘grill’ him on it...He’ll then most likely ignore her for the rest of the time she’s in Alola...» Lillie muttered serious, pursing her lips slightly.

«I was just joking...I’ll be sure to leave him alone.» he said. He shrugged. «I know he don’t consider me a friend, but he’s still a friend of mine. And i’ll leave him alone...I know him to well after these years.» he added.

«True.» Lillie replied, looking over at them again. She slowly gained a massive grin on her face, feeling extremely happy and proud of for her older brother.

While Lillie kept an eye on them, Gladion and Luna were busy with each other. Lusamine eventually finished her long speech, and again thanked the people and the companies that were working with Aether to make the pokemon world a better place for both humans and pokemon. As she finished, people started to leave, it being quite late and most of the people at the party were tourists, who most likely had other things to do while still being in Alola. Seeing them walk up to Lusamine and congratulate her on the achievement were something that irked Gladion the wrong way, knowing that he had done most of the work the past few years, while Lusamine had been running around like a headless Pikipek, not really doing anything else than getting ready for the meetings with the champions. After a short while, the hall were looking rather empty. Lusamine still around and chatting with a few of the people that were left. After two more hours, Luna were quite tired and had started to nod off slightly.

She let out a soft sight, shaking her head slightly. «If you are feeling tired, you should leave and get some proper rest.» Gladion told her gently.

«I guess i should...» she muttered softly. «I just feel rude saying so...»

They had been sitting at an empty table, talking and getting to know each other some more. She had told him how she became champion and most of her adventure, but left out the part where she caught Yveltal, the Destruction Pokemon and one of the legendaries of Kalos. She had never talked about her pokemon journey, and it felt rather nice to tell someone about it. She didn’t tell him that she were feeling tired, as he were about to start talking a little bit about his Alolan pokemon journey, at least a few of the things he haven’t told her beforehand.

«Nothing to feel rude about.» he said and got up from the chair, holding his hand out for her to help her get up. «I know there will be a ferry leaving soon, so i’ll walk with you back to the resort at least.» he added.

She took his hand, and got up from the chair. «I appreciate that, but you don’t have to walk me all the way to the resort.» she replied, smiling.

«I’ll do it anyway...Not really trusting some of the people around in Alola.» he muttered softly. Luna just nodded, thinking that he were talking about Team Skull, which he had said a fair share about to her.

Linking her arm with his again, they found their way out of the place and towards the elevator. Most of the people had left, so there wasn’t to many on the ferry as they got down to the docks, and getting onto it. Sitting down close to the door, Luna leaned against him, placing her head onto his shoulder while letting out a soft, tired sigh. Looking down at her from the corner of his eyes, his eyes went down to her bandaged hand. He reached for it and gently ran his thumb over some of her exposed skin, finding her skin almost silk like. Luna just smiled softly, not saying anything as he did it, keeping her head on his shoulder, watching him carefully have her lightly damaged hand in his. On the way over to Akala, it was a rather quiet ride, but they enjoyed the silence, taking the time to fully process what were going on and sort out some feelings. Getting off the ferry, and heading over to the resort, they stopped in front of the entrance, Luna turning around to face him.

She had a faint blush on her cheeks, which slowly became darker. «Thank you for a wonderful evening.» she said lightly, looking rather timidly down at the ground.

«It’s been...delightful.» he replied softly. «Sorry about your hand though...»

Luna chuckled softly. «That’s fine. It could have happened to anyone.» she replied.

«Yeah...But it happened to you.» he muttered.

«I’ll be fine. I’ll make sure i clean it properly.» she replied to him, giving him a sweet smile. Gladion nodded and hummed softly.

She looked down at her hand, keeping the smile on her face. He then reached for her, lifting her chin up as he leaned in, locking their lips passionately. They got interrupted by some loud tourists that had been taking a stroll across the beach, they being extremely loud, making the two break from it and look over with big eyes and a massive blush across their face. Gladion muttered something inaudible to himself while Luna let out a soft sigh.

«I should get back...» he muttered.

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Bien sûr.» she lightly replied.

Debating with herself of what to do before or say before he left started to run through her mind, only for her to grab his collar and pull him down, crashing her lips onto his again. It took him by surprise, but he quickly returned it. Breaking it and looking into each others eyes. «Passez une bonne nuit, ma chèrie.~» she said in a hushed voice, smiling softly.

«Bonne nuit, ma chèrie.» he replied back in a husky voice.

She gave him another light peck before letting go of his collar, turning around and started to walk away, giving him a small wave as she got inside the resort building. Luna got into the elevator after waiting for a few minutes, getting quite awake again by the horrid music that were playing on the way up to her floor. Getting out of the elevator and heading over to her room, she started to dig through her purse for her room key. Finding it, she unlocked the door and got inside, seeing the Vulpix laying in the char, sleeping soundly. Lightly and silently closing the door, getting her heels off and walking over to the bed, she grabbed her PJs and headed into the bathroom, getting herself changed and ready for bed. Quickly getting off the makeup and letting her hair down, brushing through it quickly and washing her face, she silently got out of the bathroom and over to the bed, getting in and under the covers. Getting comfortable, she placed her hands over her face, getting flustered.

_ Oh gosh...i called him mon chèri…. _

She squealed as silently as she could, wriggling her body a little and dragged the covers more over her head. Despite being so flustered, she had a smile on her face, her heart pounding hard and loudly in her chest. She took a few deep breaths in order to calm down enough to fall asleep, closing her eyes and trying to drift off. She didn’t drift off to sleep in a while, being to flustered and her thoughts running around in her mind, starting to think that she had done something that she never should have done.

_ I should never have let him kiss me...nor should i have called him that… _

She were starting to panic, only to get interrupted when the small Vulpix jumped up onto the bed, and moved up to her pillow, laying down above her head. She got surprised, having forgotten that the pokemon were out of its pokeball. She reached up to it, giving it a few soft scratches on its head making it let out a soft mur, being content and happy where it was laying. She smiled and let out a soft, silent sigh, thinking that she would sleep on it and think more about the situation she had gotten herself into more the next day. Gladion stood around for a few seconds before he turned around, heading back to the marine. He kept his eyes on the ground while heading back, loosening the tie a little as his heart started to beat faster, his face heating up, just by thinking about her.

_ Mon chèri… _

He kept repeating that in his mind on his way over, liking how it sounded when it came from her. Her soft voice lingering on his mind, making him smile softly. Stopping at the entrance of the terminal, he looked at the door a little before walking in, getting a ticket back to the VLSF in the middle of the Alolan sea. Waiting for the ferry to arrive, he kept standing in a corner, his hand in the pockets of his pants, eyes looking down at the floor. He got so lost in thought, that he almost missed the ferry over when it arrived and got ready to leave again, hurrying onboard. Letting out a soft sigh, standing outside at the deck as the ferry left Akala Marine. Looking over at the resort building, he decided himself as well to sleep on it, and see what happened in the next few days, or weeks, slightly hoping that this evening wasn’t just a fluke. What the two didn’t notice that evening was that their markings had been growing, quite rapidly and without any pain for them to feel. Both of the markings were fully looking like a flower, several buds appearing while some were growing out, starting to fully bloom.


	26. Staying Around

4 months had passed in Alola, and the tourist season had started to slow down immensely, making it easier to get around the different cities. Gladion and Luna had been working on him and his Lucario, getting closer to making the pokemon mega evolve. Luna could tell that the pokemon were close to mega evolve, but there was something missing, which she couldn’t pinpoint. Beside them training and after the Aether anniversary party, Gladion had gathered more courage to actually ask the Kalosian champion out more, to which she agreed to everytime. The markings on them had been growing rapidly, but it didn’t hurt, not give them any other uncomfortable pain as it did in the beginning, both thinking that it was just some fluke and didn’t pay much more attention to it. The markings had grown bigger. On Luna it had grown down her to the middle of her back, making her conscious if anyone would see it if she were at the beach, or wore anything that would reveal her back. Gladion’s marking had grown more down to his torso, but he didn’t care to much about it, and if people saw it, he would just use the excuse that it’s a tattoo he got in secret. Their marking had also been slowly gaining color. Luna had a range of red, white and pink, while Gladion had a range of different blues and a few white accents. Lillie, Sol and Hau had noticed that the two had been spending a lot of time together, despite him insisting that it was only for training purposes. Talking between them, they agreed to keep an eye on them, out of curiosity and if something more would happen.

They were all sitting in a meeting, which had gotten longer in between, which was something Lusamine had been apologizing for, telling them that there was other business she also needed to attend, considering that she were the CEO of the company, and had to make sure that it was running. While sitting there, Gladion were just shaking his head, knowing what she had been up to, which was slacking off at home, leaving him with doing most of the paperwork. Luna saw that his frown got more prominent as Lusamine were making up excuses for herself, and while sitting beside him, she lightly patted his knee, getting his attention. He looked over at her, seeing her giving him a soft smile. A faint blush appeared on his cheeks as he gave her a light smile back, reaching for her hand and taking it in his, intertwining their fingers, which had become a regular occurence, but he were sure that no one else in the room saw it. Sol being in the room and noticed the small change in Gladion’s mood whenever Lusamine were making excuses, and the fact that he were looking over at Luna whenever it happened gave it somewhat away whenever she gave him a soft smile, and a faint red color appears on his cheeks. Sol just smirked, and kept what he saw for himself, giving the guy some peace and quiet before Lillie and Hau get’s their noses into his business.

Lusamine kept on with a few excuses for a few more minutes before she went onto the main topic for the meeting. She were talking about the different regions, and where it would be the best for Aether to build their start office, in what area and preferably, what city. Each champion and their mentors were giving their ideas and possible suitable places for a start office, thinking that Lusamine would dive head first into a massive building and start up right away. Luna hesitated replying, but added that Aquacorde town would be a good place to start, it being surrounded by forest at one end and the river flowing by, which would give it a great opportunity to help water type pokemon as well, without making an artificial pond or lake to compensate for it. Lusamine were nodding, taking a few mental notes on what they all were telling her, saying that she will take everything into consideration and take one region at a time, as she had said a few meetings previous, when that question were brought up by Luna.

The more the meeting went on, Gladion were looking at the clock hanging on the wall above Lusamine’s head. He and Luna were going out, and by the slow pace this meeting took, he were sure that they would be late for the table at the newly opened restaurant in Malie City. Still having their hands intertwined with each other, his grip were slowly tightening on her, to which she gave him a light squeeze.

He quickly stopped sqeezing her hand and sighed silently. «Definitely going to be late now...» he muttered silently, loud enough for her to hear it.

«Don’t worry about it. Being a few minutes late shouldn’t be to bad.» she replied to him in a hushed voice.

«Really hope so...» he muttered, shaking his head slightly. Luna gave him a reassuring smile, humming softly.

Sitting around for a while longer, the meeting eventually ended, and Lusamine thanked for their time. She also told them that the next meeting would be in a month or so, so she told them all that they could get back to their region if they wanted to, but had to be back for the next, as it would be a lot of new information about location and what region she would start in. They all nodded and got up from their chairs, gathering their things and left the room, talking about the subject between themselves as they walked down the corridor. Lusamine gathered her papers and left the room, leaving Gladion and Luna behind. They let go of each others hand and got up from the chair, Luna getting her notebook and pen, putting it down into her bag while Gladion stretched himself a little, making a few joints snap back into place. Luna heard it and looked at him with a mixture of worry and disgust at him. He noticed her looking at him and looked down at her.

«What?» he said with a cheeky smirk on him.

«Why do you do that…? It’s horrifying...» she muttered.

«It’s not dangerous.» he flatly replied to her.

«That i’m aware of...but it sounds terrible...» she added, narrowing her eyes at him and closed her back, putting it on her shoulder and stepped away from the table and the chair.

Gladion chuckled softly, walking behind, placing his hands on her waist, looking around the room a little before pulling her close to him. «I’m not sure i’ll ever stop...» he murmured into her ear in a husky voice. Luna puffed her cheeks, a blush appearing onto her cheeks, making him chuckle some more.

Letting go of her waist, he walked over to her side, taking her hand and linking their arms. She got slightly surprised and looked up at him, only to see a cocky smile on his face. She sighed and rolled her eyes, her lips curling up to a soft smile. She gave him a light glare, making him chuckle more as they walked out of the room and starting down the hallway and over to the elevator, taking it down to the docks. As they got down to the docks, the ferry were about to leave, so they had to hurry onboard. Getting onboard, it was already full, so they stood outside, watching the horizon as the ferry left the Aether docks, heading towards Melemele Island first. While standing there, Luna started to braid her hair, and Gladion rolling up the sleeves on his shirt. As he did that, he glanced over at her, seeing that she were quite concentrated on the braiding task. Noticing him looking at her, she looked up and gave him a sweet smile as she finished.

«So...Where are we going?» she asked.

«Somewhere new in Malie.» he replied, looking out at the horizon, seeing Melemele approaching fast.

«I know it’s a restaurant already, but where in Malie?» she asked, trying to pry something out of him.

«You’ll have to wait and see.» he murmured softly, giving her a  _ look _ .

«Oui oui, monsieur.» she replied, waving her hand at him.

She started to move towards him slowly, her finger tracing the railing as she approached him, humming softly. Gladion looked at her with big eyes, not sure how to react when he was her gaze. Her eyes were narrow, she had a coy smile on her lips muttering softly that she wanted to know where they were going. Gladion swallowed thickly, his cheeks getting as red as they could from her seductive gaze at him, his eyes wandering around her, not sure where to look, but ended up on her, looking directly into her grey eyes. She had gotten as close as possible, and poked his nose, giggling softly.

«Où allons-nous?» she said to him, her voice being unusually low, yet playful sounding. Gladion kept staring at her, opening his mouth in order to say something, but nothing came out unable to look away from her seductive gaze. Luna giggled softly, which made him beet red. «Tu n’es pas adorable.~» she added, smirking playfully at him, adding a playful wink.

«Q-quoi…?» he muttered softly, stuttering lightly which made her giggle more.

* * *

Getting off at Ula’ula after a while and starting to head towards the restaurant, which was laying close to the library, he had asked her what she would be doing the next coming month, knowing that there wouldn’t be any meetings. Luna hummed softly, which he didn’t like, making it sound that she were going to leave, which made his heart drop.

«I believe i’ll stay around. There are still some things i haven’t seen in Alola.» she replied, giving him a sweet smile.

His eyes lighted up, feeling relieved that she were planning to stay around. «Is that so?» he asked, trying to look unfaced by her reply, which obviously made him happy.

She hummed softly, nodding. «Oui.~»

«And how will you even get around...Knowing that you don’t know anything about Alola?» he asked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

«Oh, well...I need to find myself a guide that knows where to go, and what places there are to see.» she replied and looked up at him. «You know anyone?»

He smiled softly, lightly scoffing. «Maybe.»

Luna giggled softly as they turned a corner, seeing the restaurant in the distance. Gladion pointed at the place and told her that’s were they were heading, which made her look over in curiosity. She told him that it looked like quite the fancy place, and why they were going there for the evening, to which he replied that it was a new place, and were curious about it. As well as Lillie had kept an eye on the place, only to forget that it opened a few days ago and never went to take a look. Luna narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head.

«What?» he chuckled softly to her.

«That’s quite horrible of you. Not reminding your sister that the place is open, despite her keeping an eye on the opening.» she told him, waving her index finger at him.

«I wouldn’t be the horrible older brother if i didn’t.» he replied, giving her a sly look.

«C’est terrible de ta part.~» she replied in a sarcastic tone.

«Oui oui, madame.» he added shortly to her.

Getting to the front door, he opened it up, letting her walk in first. She stopped and looked around, seeing the dim lighting around the place, as well as the overall cozy, yet fancy, atmosphere. Gladion got over to her side, to which she linked her arm with his. Getting over to the host, he greeted them and asked for a name, to which Gladion gave him, confirming the reservation he had made a few days ago. The host confirmed it and grabbed two menus, asking them to follow him to their table. While getting to the table and taking their seats, the host handed them the menu and asked if they wanted something to drink while looking over it, to which they both ordered some water for now. The host nodded and left, fetching them some water while they opened the menu, taking a look at what the place had to offer.


	27. Une Dance

A waiter came back eventually with a glass of water to each of them, putting it down on the table in front of them. The waiter then asked if they would like more time to look at the menu, which they both nodded at. The waiter nodded and left the table, saying that he’ll be back in a few minutes. Sitting in silence, looking down at the menu, Gladion had already found something he decided to get, and were now waiting for her to decide on something. While looking at the menu, he glance up at her. She kept looking down at the menu, her eyes scanning the pages closely. The dimmed light around the place seemed to play tricks on his mind as he kept looking at her, the soft light making her seem more alluring. She looked up, meeting his gaze and gave him a soft smile, to which he just gave her a soft, but nervous smile back. 

«Found something you like?» he asked, putting the menu down onto the table.

Luna hummed softly and nodded. «I guess i did.~» she said softly, but cheerfully, followed by a small, playful wink at him.

Gladion’s eyes got wide and he got beet red. «...Good to know...» he muttered, letting out a soft nervous chuckle. Luna giggled softly.

Outside of the restaurant, there was a familiar presence pacing back and forth outside. He had noticed the two when passing and got quite irritated when he saw that Luna were with Gladion, the guy who stole her from that blind date weeks ago. He kept pacing on the front, thinking of what to do, and the more he looked inside, seeing the two enjoying themselves, as well as ordering and getting their food. While they were eating, chatting and generally just flirting in some of the most subtle and obvious ways. The guy outside were fuming and stormed inside, wanting to give Gladion a piece of his mind for stealing his date the other day, and try to steal his. Gladion and Luna were minding their own business. He noticed that she were occasionally looking over at the dancefloor. The waiter arrived and refilled their water, and asked if there was something else they wanted, which they both declines. Looking over at the dancefloor, exchanging glances between her and the area.

_Maybe later...?_

«Does it live up to your Kalosian standards?» he then asked, breaking the silence that had occured between them while eating.

«Well...» she started, humming softly. «Can’t really compare, can i? I’m in Alola after all.» she added.

Gladion chuckled softly. «True. But it’s better to be sure than sorry.» he replied. Luna nodded and giggled softly.

They kept on talking as the guy stormed in, passing the host in a hurry. The host didn’t properly react as he stormed past him, just watching him as he walked off, approaching the table where Luna and Gladion were sitting. On his way, he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down at the side of their table.

«Fancy seeing you two here.» he greeted them. Luna and Gladion were looking at him in confusion, exchanging glances at one another. The guy looked at their plates, seeing that they were still eating. «Please continue, don’t let me interrupt.» he said, smiling.

The two were shrugging and tried to ignore him, but the more they ate, the closer he scooted towards Luna, making her uncomfortable, leaning away and stopped eating. Gladion were glaring at the guy, to which he ignored him to the fullest, muttering things to Luna, who made her lean even more away from him. She did also tell the guy to stop getting closer to her and to respect her privacy, which he just hummed at, ignoring it. The more she pleaded for him to stay away, the more irritated and angry Gladion got, seeing that the guy didn’t take the hint, not even after she had told him straight up to leave her alone. He looked around and got the attention to a waiter, gesturing for the bill. The waiter nodded and signed for him that he would be there in a minute, having to finish serving a different table. Keeping a close eye on the guy, and politely telling him to back off, since Luna had said that several times.

He just looked over at him and scoffed. «Don’t think you are the one to talk, sir.» he hissed, giving him a condescending look. «Missed me?» he asked.

«Quite the contrary...» she replied, looking away from him, being quite uncomfortable.

«Aww...that breaks my heart, young miss.» he said, placing his hand over his heart, sounding hurt.

He started with how he felt when she left him that time she were his date, leaving with Gladion, occasionally looking over at the blonde, giving him dirty looks. The waiter then arrived, handed the booklet with the bill in it to Gladion, and took the plates. He quickly paid for the meal and drinks and got up from the chair, walking over to Luna’s side, offering his hand to her. She got her bag and took his hand, getting up on her feet. As she got onto his side, she linked her arm with his and they started to walk out. The guy got up from his chair as well, following them closely out into the streets, being a few feet away from them.

«Why are you telling me off? And even ignoring me?» he shouted over at them, quickening his pace to catch up with the two.

Gladion did his best trying to keep himself calm and focus on Luna, but it was hard when the guy were closing up, getting more and more annoyed and irritated. Luna could see it, his expression slowly going from neutral to a frown, knowing that he could most likely snap at any moment. They were close to the end of the street, thinking of getting into Malie Garden and kill some time there.

«Leaving with  _ my _ lady is nothing like a  _ gentleman _ would ever do.» he said and reached for Luna, placing his hand on her shoulder. She flinched and yelped, not having noticed that he had gotten that close to them.

Hearing her yelp, Gladion turned in a hurry, pulling her behind him before grabbing his collar. «Listen real carefully...» he hissed. The guy just stood there flabbergasted at him, feeling himself getting looked down upon as he stared right into his piercing emerald eyes, which was saying more than words could of his anger at that point. «You were not invited, nor welcome in our... _ Her _ ...company.»

He chuckled nervously. «What makes you say that, kid?»

«The fact that a creep like you don’t understand that a  _ no _ is actually a  _ no _ …» he snarled at him. «...And i saw what you were doing that evening to her, and i can’t fathom that you even have the conscious and even guts to still put your hands on her.» he added.

The guy swallowed thickly. «H-have no i-idea what you are t-talking about...» he muttered.

Gladion tightened the grip on his collar. «Do me a favour and get the fuck lost.» he snarled, scowling at him. Feeling quite threatened, the guy just nodded, humming softly. «Good. Now get lost!» he snarled, letting go of his collar.

The guy scoffed and stood there for a little as Gladion turned, apologizing to Luna and told her that they were leaving. Luna didn’t hesitate and followed, but it was a first to see Gladion that furious, but she felt it was with a good reason, considering that, the guy behind them, had been inappropriate with her on their first meeting and blind date that Diantha had put them up with. Walking off and turning the corner, heading towards Malie Garden, Gladion let out a deep sigh, which caught her attention.

«Not the date i visioned...» he muttered, looking quite disappointed as they walked into the garden. «Sorry about that outburst...» he added, trying to hide the embarrassment that were growing on his features.

She were rather surprised that he apologized, but smiled softly, leaning more onto him and looked up. «That’s fine. A bit surprising, but i get the gist of it.» She then reached up for his cheek, making him look at her. «And the evening is still young, non?» she added, smiling softly at him and poked his nose.

Feeling her hand on his cheek made the heat grew up his neck to his cheek, looking at her with big eyes. Looking into her grey eyes and seeing her soft smile, his expression softened, a smile appearing on him. He let out a light chuckle. «I guess that’s a way to change the subject.» he murmured softly.

Luna nodded and hummed softly, keeping the soft smile present on her lips.

Walking around in the garden, just looking around at the well kept vegetation. They weren’t alone, as there were several people around, but it seemed that they all were on their way out of the place, heading either home or to a different place in Alola. Having their arms linked, they walked around and ended up sitting down on a bench under one of the garden huts. Sitting down, Luna undid the ponytail she had put her hair up on, letting it down as she ran her fingers through it, planning to braid it. Gladion sat back, looking at her and could hear the faint jazz music going on in the background, probably coming from an apartment in the building behind them. Recalling that she had been looking over the dancefloor at the restaurant, he got up on his feet, and stood up in front of her, reaching out for her. Luna had put the hair tie in her bag while running her fingers through her hair, placing the bag beside her. She looked at his hand and then up at him, wondering what he were going to do or ask.

«M’accordez-vous cette danse?» he asked, his voice sounding gentle and welcoming.

She smiled warmly and placed her hand in his. «Wy, bien sûr, monsieur.~» she replied softly.

Taking her hand in his, he helped her up on her feet and pulled her close, placing his other hand on her waist, while she placed her other hand on his shoulder. Hearing the soft music in the distance, he slowly started to guide her with him, moving slowly while their eyes were locked on each other. He got conscious about how small and delicate her hand was, fearing that he’s holding her hand to tightly, loosening up the grip a little. Luna coyly averted her gaze from his after a few turns, a light rosy color gracing her cheeks. Seeing her timid side were intriguing, making him smile softly as they kept moving around lightly, following the music that could be heard. They kept moving around for a while, the garden slowly getting darker, being lost with each other and not noticing that it had started to rain lightly. As the music slowly faded away, they slowly stopped as well, locking their eyes on each other. His eyes involuntarily went down at her lips before going back up to her eyes. They slowly inched closer to each other, heads slightly tilting and eyes closing as their lips touched lightly, softly brushing against each other. They parted, meeting each others gaze for a few seconds before they leaned in again, locking their lips. Letting go of each others hand, Luna placed her on his cheek, wrapping her other arm around his neck. Gladion placed both of his hands around her waist, unconsciously pulling her closer to him.

The soft kisses between them got interrupted when a sudden and strong gust of wind came their way, making the rain hit them straight on, making them break it. They both looked in the direction where the rain came from, looking out at the garden and the rain that were pouring down, starting to get heavier as they looked around more. The light above them flickered slightly, making them both look up for a small second before looking at each other. Luna let out a soft giggle, smiling sweetly. Gladion smiled softly, reaching for her chin and pulled her up, placing his lips onto hers again, giving her a soft, tender kiss.

«You probably should get back to Hano Grand.» he murmured softly.

«Probably.» she softly replied to him.

Still staying close, he had his hand on her lower back as they turned to look out at the garden. Luna reached for her bag and hold it tightly, asking if they should hurry out and towards the marine, getting the ferry over to Akala Island. Gladion nodded and hummed softly, calculating how quickly they could get out and over to the terminal. He looked down at her shoes, seeing that she were wearing pumps, and pursed his lips a little at the sight. She noticed and scoffed, telling him that it wouldn’t be a problem to run, just that she would be a little slower than usual.

«I’ll take your word on that.» he said, chuckling. Reaching for her hand, they intertwined their fingers. Luna grabbed onto her bag tightly and nodded at him, indicating that she were ready whenever he was. «Right...» he muttered softly.

They then started to run towards the entrance of the garden and the terminal, getting there as quickly as possible. He didn’t pull her to much, not wanting her to trip on the way to the terminal. Luckly, it didn’t take too long to get into the terminal, and once inside they let go of each others hand. Luna started to twist her hair, getting some of the rain water out of it while Gladion got over to the front desk, getting tickets over to Akala. They had to wait for a few minutes before the next ferry got back to Ula’ula, so they took some seat close to the gate, just looking around at the few people that were around. Luna braided her hair while waiting, hoping to keep her dress as dry as possible. As she were done braiding it, she sat up straight and crossed her legs, reaching for his hand, intertwining their fingers again. He got surprised, but didn’t hesitate nor pull away, gently rubbing his thumb over hers. They sat there for a while as the ferry arrived and quickly boarded it, finding some seats inside of it and sat down, getting ready to get over to Akala. The ride over took a while, just sitting close and enjoying the ride over. They got to Heahea Marine and got off the ferry, starting to walk through the street and towards the resort on the other side of the city. While walking over to the resort, they saw a few tourists that were still out, doing their own thing, taking pictures and whatever they found interesting.

They got over to the resort, and stopped at the entrance. «Well...here you are.» he muttered softly. Luna turned to face him and nodded. «I’ll probably see you tomorrow then…?» he asked, looking down at her.

She hummed softly. «If you want to, that is?» she replied, looking up at him giving him a sweet smile.

Gladion didn’t want to sound needy, but he already knew that he wanted to see her again. «Whatever you want really. I don’t have any plans as far as i know..» he replied, blushing from ear to ear.

«I’ll stop by Aether then if you ain’t to busy.~» she murmured softly.

She pulled him down towards her and gave him a light peck on his lips, saying goodnight before she started to walk off, heading inside the hotel. Gladion muttered a goodnight to her as she started to walk off, watching her get inside before he turned around, heading back to the marine, hoping that a ferry would be going over to the Aether Paradise. Walking back to the marine, he noticed that his heart were racing and he had butterfrees in his stomach, something he didn’t notice the entire evening, being to busy keeping his mind on her, the quite comfortable and fuzzy feeling coming over him as he walked through the street. Luna got into the elevator and pushed the button for her floor, her heart racing in her chest as she kept recalling the day, despite the guy from weeks ago taking a little of their time of the day. She didn’t think to much about that part as she got up to her floor and headed over to her room, getting inside and closing the door behind her, greeting the Vulpix that were laying on the bed, half asleep. She quickly got out of her black dress and into her PJs, undoing the braid and brushing through it quickly before she crawled into the bed, getting comfortable. She wiggled her body a little as she got comfortable, having a smile on her lips as she drifted off to sleep. It didn’t take to long for Gladion to get over to Aether and home, being lucky to catch the next ferry that were about to leave as he got to the terminal. Silently getting inside the mansion and up to his room, he let out a content sigh as he got himself ready for the night. He got a soft smile on him as he got under the covers in his bed, laying down and looking up at the ceiling while getting comfortable.


	28. Just a Flirt

Standing at Heahea Marine, Luna were saying her goodbye to Diantha, that would be leaving back to Kalos for the coming month, alongside other champions that were also taking their leave until the next meetings. Ruby and his mentor Steven Stone were going to stay behind, Steven having gotten interested in Konikoni City and the collection of “gems” there. Cynthia would be staying behind as well, thinking of taking on the Battle tree and have a few rounds there, having heard that there will be a few familiar faces. Ruby were going to tag along with Steven to Konikoni, making sure that he didn’t get anything unnecessary, knowing that the guy loves his rock collection and would get new ones all the time. Diantha were standing by the entrance of the terminal, talking and her literally lecturing her about keeping herself safe and not wander around without a pokemon on hand at all times. 

Luna just nodded. «I’ll be fine, Diantha. And i always have a pokemon on hand.» she said and pointed at the white Vulpix in her arms.

She just waved her hand at her. «I’m aware, but i won’t get any backlash from your parents if they ask anything about me not “taking care” of you.» she said.

Luna nodded, letting out a light huff. «I’m not a child anymore, Diantha. I’m sure i can take care of myself.»

Diantha nodded. «I know. I have been around you since you became champion and have seen you grow from a young girl to a young lady.» she said proudly. She were about to say something more when the speakers outside of the terminal announced that the ferry would be leaving soon. Diantha then sighed softly and looked at the young champion. «You sure you’ll be fine?»

«I’ll be fine. Beside...Steven, Cynthia and Champion of Hoenn is still around. As well as the Alolan Champion.» she said, giving her a sweet smile.

«Yeah. I’m just a worrywart...Spending so much time with you throughout the years makes me see you like my own daughter. I just want you to be safe, oui?» She replied to her, smiling warmly.

The words took her by complete surprise. They had spend their fair share time together in different meetings and battles at the league, but Luna found that quite annoying, thinking that she would be able to keep up with everything alone, but hearing the former champion say it straight to her, that she did see her as her own, made her see why she was so harsh at times. Luna just smiled sweetly at her.

«Take care, Diantha.» she said, knowing that she had to get into the ferry on time.

«...And don’t do anything i wouldn’t do.» she added, followed by a soft giggle.

«Bien sûr.~» Luna replied.

They shared a hug and Luna watched her hurry into the terminal. She did stay around for a while, watching the ferry leave the marine and slowly get smaller as it sailed off into the distance. Luna then noticed Ruby and Steven in the distance as she turned around, the two taking the turn into the Diglett’s Tunnel. Cynthia greeted her quickly as she passed and were most likely on her way to Poni Island, going over to the Battle Tree. Luna decided to get back to the resort, having something to eat and then decide what to do, only to remember on the way that she did say something to Gladion about showing up at Aether at some point.

_ That’s the plan for the day then… _

She nodded to herself and started to walk over to the resort, letting the Vulpix down to run around beside her as it pleased. It didn’t go anywhere and stayed close to her at all times, but kept looking around at the many strange tourists around the street. Luna ignored them all the way over, despite getting a few looks from boys her age, and a few younger ones that were scattered around as she passed them. Having walked the distance a few times already, she were quickly back at the resort and walked inside. She picked up the pokemon and gently held it in her arms as she got over to the elevator and up to her floor. Since it was still early, she wanted to relax a little more before she got some breakfast and then, most likely, got over to Aether for the day.

* * *

At Aether, Gladion had been wandering around the Conservation area, just looking around and directing some of the employees to their task or what they should be doing. Despite walking around there, his mind were occupied to the date yesterday. Letting out a sigh here and there whenever he was alone in the area, he felt himself getting embarrassed when thinking back at when he lightly snapped at the guy, telling him off while Luna were right there, seeing it all. Thinking about it, he started to feel quite uneasy, knowing that she would, most likely, get to Aether at some point this day. It was quite obvious that his mind were occupied with something else than something work related, and some of the employees were talking about it among themselves, wondering what was going on and why he was acting a little out of character. Wicke managed to pick up on it and got quite curious, deciding to get up to the conservation area and take a look herself. Getting done with the few things she were working on, she found her way up to the conservation area, and started to walk around, trying to find the young man, and eventually found him. He were leaning against the railing and texting on his phone, seemingly looking quite relaxed and calm. She stood around for a while, just watching to make sure that he was alright before she turned around, walking off after seeing a soft smile appearing on him.

Luna had given him a text, saying that she were on her way over, as she felt it would be out of place to just show up unannounced. He had stopped in a corner of the conservation area, making sure that there was no one around when he replied to her, getting to know when she most likely would be at the docks.

_ Right...I’ll make sure that i’m down at the docks when you arrive.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Alright. I’ll give you a quick text when i’m just around the corner.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Please do.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Gladion could feel the butterfrees in his stomach flutter around. Despite having been around her for a few months, the mixture of excitement and nervousness never seemed to fade away whenever she would arrive or whenever she was around. Putting the phone back down into his pocket, he started to wander around some more, ending up stopping to look at a few Slowpokes and Corsolas that were having a good time, minding their own business in the artificial river and ponds. Standing there in silence, just watching them, he could hear employees chat while guiding around a few tourists that were going on a tour. Letting out a light sigh, he started to walk around again and got over to the elevator, taking it down to the office floor, seeing if there was something there he could be doing until he had to get down to the dock and meet up with Luna. Wicke was wandering around on the floor and saw him walk around, trying to look either busy or for something to do. She watched him for a little before deciding to walk up to him, just to make sure that he actually were okay and not overthinking something trivial.

«Hello, young Master. Everything alright at the conservation area?» she asked with a sweet smile.

Gladion flinched and looked over at the woman. «Yeah, all is good up there...» he replied in a hurry.

She kept the sweet smile on her lips, seeing that he were clearly feeling uneasy. «Is everything alright with you then, young Master? You seem stressed.»

He tried his best to regain his posture and act calm, clearing his throat. «I’m fine...» he replied looking off to the side, a quite noticeable blush appearing as his mind pictured Luna.

Wicke nodded and saw that his mind were quite occupied. «Alright. Just making sure since you looked very stressed out while wandering around the hallways. Please take care of yourself and take a break if you need it.»

«I will. Thanks Wicke.» he muttered softly. Wicke nodded again and walked off, heading back to her designated tasks. Gladion started to wander around again, trying to calm down before Luna would give him a text.

* * *

After a while, Luna had gotten herself on the ferry. She had planned to get over to Aether earlier, but managed to fall asleep for a few more hours after she got over to her room, after saying goodbye to Diantha and a few other fellow champions. Sitting inside, she were eating a sweet malasada, just to have something quick to fill her up for the time being. The Vulpix were sitting beside her, looking out the windows, as it had been a while it were at Aether and outside of its pokeball while being there, the last time it was there was when she first met it. The pokemon occasionally looked over at Luna, giving off a soft, content cry before continuing to look outside, its tail wagging vigorously. Luna smiled and chuckled softly at the sight, finding it cute, as well as giving it a little from the malasada, letting it taste it. As she finished eating the malasada, she noticed that she were close to the VLFS and got her phone up, quickly giving Gladion a text that she were just about to turn around and head straight to the dock.

_ I’m just around the corner.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ I’ll be there when you arrive.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

He flinched slightly when he got the message, and had managed to slightly calm down his racing heart and mind, only for it to get right back at it when the text from her arrived. He put away the tabled he were working on, walking out of the office and starting to head down to the docks, not wanting to be late and make her wait. Getting down to the docks, he saw that the ferry were about to dock up, seeing people getting ready to get off. He inhaled deeply, looking at the crowd outside at the deck, looking rather excited around the VLFS. As it docked up, letting the crowd off, Gladion stepped to the side, letting them pass him. Watching them pass, there was a few of the tourists that give him a few looks, seeing that he were looking quite out of place, considering the black and red accents on his attire. Most of the looks were from girls who were gawking as they passed, which he noticed and did his best not to give them any attention. Focusing on not giving them any attention, he didn’t notice that Luna got off the ferry and walked up to him.

«Bonjour, monsieur Gladion.~»

Gladion slightly flinched and looked to his side, seeing her stand there with the Vulpix in her arms, smiling sweetly. «Ah...Bonjour.» he muttered softly.

«Been waiting for long?» she asked, tilting her head.

He shaked his head. «No. I almost just got here.» he replied.

Having a few more words, she linked her arm with his, and they got over to the elevator, taking it up to the conservation area, just to wander around. Taking the elevator up, and passing the office floor, Wicke noticed them standing on it. She just smiled at the sight, knowing now why he was looking rather uneasy earlier that morning. For hours, before Luna arrived and when he was trying to work, his mind had been preoccupied, trying to sort out his feelings and collect his thoughts. Having forgotten about the marking on his chest, which he haven’t been checking for the past month, it was still slowly growing, faintly starting to show a few colors. Luna’s marking on her back had also been growing slowly, though, she had completely forgotten about it, since it didn’t have get painful anymore. Having sorted his feelings a little before she arrived later that day, he wasn’t too proud to admit it to himself that he was smitten by her, crushing real hard on the Kalosian Champion. And it certainly didn’t help that they had shared a few kisses. Getting up to the conservation area, they were walking around. Luna taking in the sight of the different pokemon that she would be able to see outside of the touring routes Aether had set up for the summer season. He kept an eye on her from the corner of his eyes, trying to convince himself that it was just a harmless summer flirt, and that when she’s back in Kalos, they’ll forget about each other and go on about their life. Though, even that was hard, reading whatever she did as a sign, making him fall even harder for her. He lightly shaked his head.

_ This is just a summer flirt...nothing more, nothing less...Stop reading to much into it…! _

Luna noticed that he were occupied as he got quite silent, fiddling with the tie he were wearing. She asked if he were  _ okay _ , tilting her head a little to the side. He didn’t seem to notice that he had undone it as he replied to her, saying that he was  _ fine _ , just had a lot of Aether business on his mind. Luna walked up to him, and took his hands away from the tie before she started to tie it up again for him. He looked down at her, swallowing thickly as he watched her, gently tying the tie up again. He let out a soft sigh, looking out in front of him, feeling quite dumb and embarrassed.

_ Why am i overthinking everything…? _

After she finished, she got over to his side again and linked her arm with his, asking him if there was anything else there was to see, and if he really wanted her around, seeing that he were preoccupied with something in his mind. She felt disheartened when she asked, but she didn’t want to be a bother and keep him away from things if he actually were busy.

«If you are busy, i can leave. I don’t want to be a bother and keep you away from important work.»


	29. Sois â Moi?

His mind went blank when she said it, looking down at her with a mixture of confusion and horror on him. He had, in a way, invited her over and did enjoy her company more than he would like to admit, but had to admit it to himself when he looked down at her, seeing that she were looking off into a different direction. Her eyes had dropped, not showing the same spark as a few seconds earlier, starting to seem a little more distant as she unlinked her arm with his, placing them both behind her back. The sight stung, real bad. Looking around the quite secluded corner of the conservation area, trying to look for something clever to say in order to defuse the tension that came over the situation. Biting his lower lip, he let out a soft, silent sigh, facepalming. 

«I’m sorry...I’m an idiot...as per usual.» he said, dragging his hand over his face as his head were slightly hanging.

«Wouldn’t say that.» she said lightly. «Just...hard to understand sometimes.»

«Which makes me an idiot.» he quickly replied to her.

«Is it me? Is it something i have done?» she then asked. «Because i would like to know if i have done something.»

«No...» he replied to her, starting to feel slightly frustrated. Mostly of himself. «You haven’t done anything...»

«There has to be something...» she muttered softly. «I’m sure there is something...»

The silence grew heavier as he just looked at her, not sure what to say. There was something she had done to him, and by keeping his eyes on her he finally managed to sort out the conflicting feelings he had figured were more than just a light and small crush on the Kalosian in front of him. The few seconds felt like minutes, and the minutes felt like hours, and he were sure that he had messed up completely, his shoulders dropping and his heart clenching tightly in his chest. He started to think back at the time he were roaming around with Team Skull, the things they said, the things he did, which all ended in failures in the end, and then when he went with Sol, Hau and Lillie into the wormhole to get their mother back from the Ultra Space, which seemed like the end of the many failures after those years.

_ Another failure...like always… _

Pinching the bridge of his nose, letting out a silent sight while looking around, trying to avoid looking at her, which proved to be hard, his eyes wandering right back to her. Slightly gritting his teeth, letting out a silent scoff as a frown appeared on his face.

_ Failure is not an option this time... _

Feeling quite rejected, Luna were about to say something, but got interrupted as she got forced around, yelping lightly. Feeling her chin getting tilted up and a pair of lips crashing onto hers. It was rough, yet a quite tender and passionate kiss, something she didn’t expect, nor did she mind it. Parting from it, their foreheads touching and eyes meeting. It felt like her heart were going to jump out of her chest at any second, beating as hard as it could, making her breathing heavy and a little irregular. Her mind short circuited for a second before she looked into his emerald green eyes. She gave him a small soft smile, which made him smile softly back.

«Sois â Moi...?» he asked gently.

Her eyes grew wide, and had to repeat the question in her mind a few times, making sure that she didn’t hear wrong. The surprise slowly grew into a smile and a blush appearing on her cheeks. «Tout à vous...» she gently replied back.

The Butterfrees in his stomach were going wild, his brain short circuited for a second from her reply, looking rather confused. For the next few seconds, his mind calmed down, sorting out the situation and a soft smile grew on his lips. Leaning in again and tenderly locking their lips. Gladion moved his hands to her waist, pulling her as close as possible, while Luna wrapped her arms around his neck. Getting lost in each other, they didn’t notice that Wicke were wandering around and were about to turn the corner to were the two were standing, having their lips occupied by each other. She slightly flinched and turned around, walking off. Wicke stopped and looked over her shoulder, smiling sweetly.

_ Someone who caught your eye. I’m happy for you, young Master... _

* * *

Gladion and Luna had been wandering around the VLFS. While walking around, Gladion did apologize for acting quite distant when she arrived earlier that day. She said it was fine, though it did give her the wrong message, which made his shoulders drop, letting out a sigh. She leaned onto him, again saying that it was fine, now understanding why he was acting that way. Since it was getting late and the last ferry would be leaving from the Aether docks soon, they went found their way down. On the way, a familiar face for Gladion saw them, and they fumed by the sight of them on the elevator, taking it down. Gladion didn’t notice them, keeping his attention on Luna only. The elevator stopped and they got off, and as quickly as they did, it started to ascend again, probably picking up a few more people. Not thinking to much about it, they got over to the edge, watching the ferry get ready to leave and having a few more words, as well as planning the next day.

«So...More mega evolution training tomorrow? We do have a whole month to work on it...And you don’t really have to rush it either.» she said, looking around the docks.

He hummed softly, nodding. «True...» he muttered softly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulls her close. Leaning down to her with a smirk. «But i wouldn’t pass any opportunity to be around my girl.» he murmured smugly.

Luna blushed into a deep red. «Not sure how to reply to that...» she lightly muttered.

«No reply needed. Just show up.» he chuckled.

She just pursed her lips, blushing from ear to ear, crossing her arms. She flinched when the speakers on the ferry announced that they would be leaving shortly. Seeing that the ferry were going to leave soon, she got up on her tiptoes and pulled him down by his collar, planting a soft kiss on his lip. «I’ll see you tomorrow then.~»

«I’ll be waiting.» he murmured.

Luna giggled softly and placed another kiss on his lips before she let go and walked off, getting onto the ferry in a hurry. Gladion stood around and watched until the ferry started to move, leaving Aether. Wicke had been slightly shadowing them, being the curious woman that she is. Employees had noticed and found it rather strange, knowing that she would usually stay away and had started whispering among themselves about the behavior. As the ferry got around the corner, Gladion got back over to the elevator, getting onto it. As he walked over, he could hear the chatter among the employees, getting curious when he heard Wicke’s name. Pushing the button for up, he decided to ask the woman if he saw her at the entrance area. The railings got up and the elevator ascended, and quickly got to the entrance area, seeing Wicke in the distance, talking to a familiar face, who didn’t seem happy. He sighed and stepped off, walking towards them. Wicke were trying to calm them down, but to no avail, as they got even more agitated when they noticed Gladion approaching.

«Who was she!?»

Wicke sighed and hung her head, shaking her head. Gladion frowned. «That’s none of your business, Celine.» he hissed.

The girl scowled at him and placed her hands on her hips. «How dare you...» she started.

«Go home, Celine...You ain’t welcome.» he interrupted and passed her, walking towards the mansion.

She fumed, stomping her foot as she watched him walk off. Wicke just stood there, watching the girl try to contain her outburst. Wicke then proceeded to tell her that she would get her a boat, since the last one for the day had just left, which the girl scoffed at.

«Whatever...» she snarled.

Wicke then proceeded to call for a ferry to take her over to Melemele Island, and followed her down to the docks, waiting with her there. Gladion heard her tantrum and just shaked his head, not believing what he heard, nor why she was at Aether, knowing that she wasn’t welcome. Not thinking to much about it, he got over to the mansion and walked inside, hearing the TV in the distance. Not bothering to see who it was in the living room, he found his way up to his room, deciding to take a quick shower and change into something more comfortable. At the resort, Luna had just gotten into her room and dropped her bag onto the bed, just standing there, looking outside of the window and watching the Wingulls fly around, minding their own business. The sky had turned into a dark orange, the stars starting to show, hearing people still roaming the beach. She unzipped the parka and walked out to the balcony, leaning over the railing as she looked down at the beach, seeing the many people pass each other and are still in the water, having a good time. Feeling the chilly breeze, she walked inside again and decided to change into her PJs, crawl into bed and just watch some TV to get tired. It still hadn’t gone up to her that Gladion did ask her to be his, to which she did say  _ yes _ at. Getting into her PJs and into the bed, she released her Vulpix and reached for the remote, turning the TV on. She got under the covers and got comfortable, letting the small pokemon lay in her lap, gently running her hand over its head, switching through different channels until something interesting came on. It slowly went up for her what had happened, as her face started to heat up, a deep red blush appearing. Hiding her face in her palms, she silently squealed, internally screaming. The small pokemon looked up at her, giving off a confused cry as it was tilting its head.

She removed her hands and looked down at it. «I’m sorry Neige...It just went up for me what actually happened earlier today...» she said, placing her hand on its head again. «You didn’t see or hear it, since you were in your pokeball...probably for the best even.» she added, gently petting it.

* * *

After a quick shower, Gladion got into something comfortable for the rest of the evening, walking down to the living room, finding Lillie watching some drama show. Standing behind the couch of where she was sitting, he watched the show a little before wandering over to the kitchen. Lillie heard him pass her and looked over her shoulder. Seeing him walk off, she shrugged and moved her attention to the screen again. He got himself something to drink and walked out to the living room again, sitting down in a chair, watching the show from the corner of his eyes.

«How was your day today?» she asked, not bothering to look over to him.

«It’s been alright.» he muttered softly, sipping on the drink.

«Nothing fancy happened? No funny Aether business even?» she asked, giving him a quick look.

«No. Nothing happened.» he flatly replied.

Lillie just hummed softly. «You sure about that? I did hear a few employees talk about Wicke shadowing you. Not sure if that’s true, but that’s what i picked up.» she said and shrugged again, shifting her position on the couch, getting more comfortable.

He sighed. «She probably “shadowed” me because of Celine...» he muttered.

Lillie looked over at him with big eyes. «Celine…? As in... _ that _ Celine?»

Gladion nodded. «Yupp.  _ That _ Celine...»

Lillie got the shivers. «No offence...but i really dislike her...» she muttered softly, pursing her lips while letting out a silent growl.

«None taken...Can’t say i’m too fond of her anymore either.» Gladion replied to her, taking another sip.

«Why was she even around?»

«How can i know? I was just minding my own business...» he said, starting to think about the events that started out the wrong way but luckily had a happy ending.

Gladion gained a light blush from the thought, and Lillie noticed, smirking over at him. «And...why are you blushing?» she asked in a smug tone.

He swallowed thickly. «It’s just the weather...» he replied lightly.

Lillie rolled her eyes. «Not a chance. It’s quite chilly outside today.» she said, crossing her arms and leaned back into the couch while looking over at him. «What’s going on?~» she murmured softly.

«Nothing is going on...» he replied, the blush getting more prominent on him. Lillie just wiggled her eyebrows at him, looking rather smug. Gladion narrowed his eyes, scowling at her. «Nothing. Is. Going. On...» he hissed.

Still looking smug, she just nodded. «Sure. Whatever you say, brother.»

Gladion got up from the chair and walked out to the kitchen again, putting the glass away into the dishwasher. As he were in the kitchen, Lusamine and Wicke arrived, chatting among themselves about the latest board meeting with a few other companies in the different regions. They walked straight into the living room, seeing Lillie sitting there, giving them both a warm smile and welcoming them both home. Wicke smiled sweetly, while Lusamine decided to glomp her, making the blonde girl yelp. Gladion heard it and walked out again, seeing the two women in the living room. Wicke bowed and smiled sweetly to him, to which he nodded back at her.

«How was the day with miss Mahina?» she then asked, keeping the sweet smile on her lips.

Both Lillie and Lusamine looked over at him. Lillie’s expression turning smug again. Gladion just looked slightly horrified at her, while she just kept the smile on her face. Lusamine let go of Lillie and stood up, placing her hands on her hips. «The champion of Kalos was around?» she then asked.

Gladion’s eyes grew big, looking around the room. «Uuh...Yeah…?» he muttered softly.

«Why was she around if i may ask?» Lusamine asked, shifting her weight onto her other leg.

«I...Just showed her around...and planned a new training session for some mega evolution for tomorrow...» he replied, not wanting to bring up that they were a couple now, which was still something that haven’t gone up for him just yet.

«Oh. Using the battle arena then i guess?» Lusamine asked, not looking to happy.

«That arena is always empty...so yeah.» he lightly hissed.

She then shrugged. «Just don’t get too close to the champion.» she then added, walking towards him and passing him, getting into the kitchen.

Wicke followed her shortly, while Lillie just sat there with her mouth open in shock. She looked over at Gladion, who started to second question himself, looking slightly horrified. She already knew that they were quite close, knowing of the many dates and the times they had been hanging out, and she could clearly see that there was some attraction on both sides. Gladion then frowned and certainly didn’t look happy as he started to walk off, silently growling to himself on the way out of the living room.

_ Too late to tell me not to get close... _


	30. Hano Beach

A few days had passed since Gladion had asked her to be his, to which she accepted. It slowly went up for him what he did, and couldn’t help still feeling slightly nervous around her, though, it wasn’t such a bad feeling. The past few days, they had been working on getting his Lucario to mega evolve, and Luna did tell him that she felt that they were getting close. Which was good news after a lot of hard training, his pokemon getting beaten to the pulp every time by her Lopunny. Taking a break this particular day, Lillie had asked Luna to join them at the beach at Hano, it being the biggest one in Alola. Luna accepted the invitation, as well as Lillie mentioned that Sol and Hau would tag along. Gladion hesitated, but knowing that Luna would be tagging along, he agreed to be around. They were planning to keep their relationship hidden for the time being, not wanting any fuzz and questions about it. Lillie and Gladion had gotten onto the ferry, heading over to Heahea City, meeting up with Sol and Hau there, and then Luna at the resort. Gladion were quite conscious about the marking on his chest, thinking that everyone could see it and already planned to not get into the water, keeping the shirt on at all times. Luna were ready, but she noticed that the marking on her back had gotten quite massive, considering the last time she even took a look at it. Being slightly in panic, she put on some black shorts and the green short parka jacket, covering up her back as much as possible with it. If anyone would ask, she would just say it’s a tattoo she got years ago.

While getting the jacket on, she got a text message from Lillie, saying that she and the other three were outside, waiting for her. Luna panicked and replied that she’ll be right there. Putting the phone into the pocket of her jacket, she hurried to get her bag, making sure that she had everything she needed before grabbing the keys for her room, hurrying out and down the hallway to the elevator. It took a minute to get down to the lobby area, which she had to navigate through, there being a lot of people hanging around for some reason. As she got out, she saw them stand outside, waiting for her. She hurried over and apologized for being late, which Lillie said was fine, knowing that there had been a lot of people walking into the hotel.

«So...All ready then?» Lillie said, clapping her hands excitedly.

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «All ready.» she said, smiling softly.

Lillie linked her arm with Luna and dragged her with her, the boys just tagging along, watching the girls in front of them. Gladion kept his eyes on Luna, casually looking around at the others, unconsciously making sure that there was no one else giving Luna any hungry looks.

* * *

They had found a spot and settled down. Hau and Sol talking about different pokemon types and having a small “game” with it, seeing who can come up with a typing that’s effective against each others choice, and who can do it the quickest. Gladion just sat there, listening to them go on about it, not sure why that was even a thing they came up with. Luna and Lillie were just talking about casual girl things. Lillie comparing the differences between the Kalosian and Alolan fashion, finding the Kalosian fashion more interesting and refined. After a while of chatting, Lillie got up on her feet, stripping off the light summer dress, revealing her bikini underneath.

«Come on, Luna. Let’s take a dip.~» she exclaimed with a sweet smile.

«Give me a second...» Luna muttered, getting up on her feet and stripped down into her bikini. Laying the black shorts and the parka down beside her bag, she stretched and adjusted her bikini top a little before walking down to the shore with Lillie.

The guys were gawking. Sol and Hau literally drooling over Lillie, while Gladion had his eyes glued on Luna, looking her down and trying to keep his mouth shut, having a massive blush across his cheeks, which was hard to see because of the sunglasses he were wearing. While the two were walking into the water, Sol muttered something, which Hau hummed at, agreeing.

«Well damn...» Sol added. Gladion heard that and glared over at him, something he noticed and gave him an awkward smile.

Lillie and Luna were in the water, still talking and enjoying themselves while the boys were on land, just watching them. After a while, the girls came back up and sat down on their towels, drying themselves up. While sitting there, Luna started to put on some sun lotion and Lillie figured that she wanted to get some ice cream. She asked if Luna wanted some, which she declined. Sol and Hau decided to join, as they wanted something else to snack on. As the three got up, Hau’s stomach growled.

He became beet red. «Gosh...Sorry...» he muttered.

«Malasada for you then!» Sol exclaimed loudly, laughing. Hau laughed nervously with him, grinning widely while nodding. Lillie giggled softly, but were shaking her head.

Lillie then looked at Gladion, ,who had laid down at this point. «Do you want anything, brother?»

«I’m fine. Thanks.» he flatly replied.

«Alright.» she replied and looked over at Hau and Sol. «I’m leaving then.» The two jogged up to her side as she started to walk off, heading into Heahea City again.

As they left, Luna got self conscious all of a sudden, getting her parka and putting it on. Gladion looked over at her and asked if she were cold. She gave a nervous chuckle. «Uh..Kinda…» she muttered softly.

He hummed softly and got up, and moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and placed his chin on her shoulder. She smiled softly, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. As he sat there, she leaned back towards him and got her phone out of the pocket of the parka, checking if she had gotten any messages. Gladion looked down, seeing that there was a few, but didn’t see who they were from. He also looked around the beach a little, making sure that there wasn’t anyone that would recognize him, or someone he knew wandering around at the beach.

«Lots of messages?» he asked, noticing that she got very focused and quiet.

«Yeah. A lot from Diantha, and a few from my parents, just asking how i am and that i’m not dying.» she replied, followed by a soft chuckle.

«I already know you ain’t dying.» he replied, pinching the sides of her waist, making her yelp lightly.

«Gladion!» she exclaimed in a hushed voice. He just chuckled softly, having a soft smile across his lips.

«What are you parents asking?»

«Not really asking anything, just a lot of “miss me” this and “miss me” that stuff. Just being overly worried.» she replied, smiling softly as she looked down at her phone.

«At least they care...» he muttered silently. «What does your parents work with? If you don’t mind me asking.» he asked.

Luna reached for his sunglasses and took them off, putting them on herself. «Well...My mom works at the boutique in Snowbelle City, and my dad is a Vivillon breeder.» she replied, checking herself in the reflection on her phone as she wore his sunglasses.

«Vivillon breeder…?»

She hummed and nodded. «Oui.~ He breeds Vivillons in order to find new wing patterns on them...The pokemon have a variety of patterns. Some are common, some are rare.»

«Ah, right. Been a while since i have seen a Vivillon now that i think about it...» he muttered.

«Oh? They ain’t in Alola, so where did you see one?» she asked, taking the sunglasses off.

«In Kalos. Where else?» he said.

«You never know.~» she replied, smiling sweetly.

He chuckled softly, planting a soft kiss on the bottom of her neck, followed by a light bite, which made her slightly flinch. Luna turned a little, facing him slightly with a small pout on her face. Gladion smirked and took that as an invitation, quickly placing a light kiss on her lips. Luna had gained a faint blush on her cheeks, but didn’t move.

«Can’t recall telling you to stop.» she murmured, the fake pout still being present on her lips.

«Just making sure you didn’t.~» he murmured back, leaning in and locked their lips.

* * *

Lillie, Sol and Hau were one their way back to the beach when they bumped into Ilima, who had been at the resort, attending a meeting alongside Kahili. They greeted him and stood around a little, chatting casually and got to know why he was on Akala Island. Their interest perked up when he mentioned that he was Gladion with his new girlfriend, which made the three exchangle a few confused looks. Ilima noticed that they probably didn’t catch what he said and repeated it.

«Didn’t know Gladion were over his ex girlfriend yet...So i’m happy that he found someone. She seemed lovely as well, so hopefully that relationship will last.» he said, smiling warmly at them.

«Oh Arceus...he scored...» Sol then muttered lightly.

«Scored what!?» Lillie asked the Alolan champion.

Sol just looked down at her, a massive grin appearing on his face. «Wingman Champ did his job! Woo!» he exclaimed loudly, starting to pull off some victorious dance moves.

Lillie just looked at him in disbelief while Hau started to laugh. Ilima chuckled and continued with the topic, telling the three of how content and relaxed Gladion were looking, which made Lillie utterly curious. Was Luna sitting there by herself like the third wheel, or where Luna this  _ girlfriend _ that Ilima was talking about. Ilima cut the conversation short, as he had to get the ferry back to Melemele Island, being ready for any challengers that would come by Verdant Cavern. He said his goodbye and left them to it. Sol and Hau waved as normal, while Lillie were just barely waving back, being in slight shock of what she had just heard.

«I need to see this...» she muttered to herself. «Come on! Let’s get back to the beach!» she then added rather loudly. Sol and Hau flinched by the outburst and just nodded at her.

They hurried over, only to see that they weren’t there at their spot, which made Lillie gasp lightly in horror, as she wanted to see her brother being happy. She scoffed and sat down on her towel, pouting while she were eating the ice cream she got. Hau sat down beside her, same did Sol, telling her that he’ll be fine.

«If it’s true that Kalos caught him, then it’s all good.» he said, giving her a reassuring smile.

She looked him dead in the eye. «Send out Rotom...»

«What…?» Sol muttered surprised, not really sure if he heard her right.

«I have to see it! Send out Rotom! Let it take some pictures!» she added in a determined voice, poking him at his chest.

Hau snorted and tried his best to conceal the laughter that was building up, muffling it with the malasada he had gotten. Sol just blinked at the blonde girl a few times, knowing it would be a bad idea if Gladion noticed that his RotomDex were flying around, spying on him. After Lillie kept pestering him about it, Sol reluctantly agreed, getting his RotomDex out and ordering it to find Gladion and take a few photos of him and the supposed girlfriend that Ilima mentioned. Rotom got his mission and saluted, flying off to find them.

Sol looked over at Lillie. «I really don’t want to take any blame on that...» he muttered.

«I’m at fault! Don’t you worry!» she said, having the biggest smile across her face.

Sol just pointed at Hau. «You heard that, right?» he asked. «Lillie takes the blame if Gladion finds out and gets mad.»

«Heard and noted.» Hau muttered, giving the Alolan champion a salute.

Sol just sighed, hanging his head. «No wonder why he hates everyone...» he muttered to himself, thinking of the times that people had been spying on the blonde and got quite the beating if he figured it out.

Gladion and Luna had taken a stroll down the beach, getting away from the regular area were people were laying around. Once they were out of their sight, Luna had reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers while walking just having some casual talking, getting to know each other some more by asking a few questions. Sol’s Rotom had managed to find them, and kept it’s distance while taking photos after photos of the two interacting. After a while, the Dex figured it had enough and hurried back to the other three, wanting to show off it’s work and get some praise for doing a good job. Lillie noticed it first, clapping her hands in excitement as the Dex landed in Sol’s hands. Hau and Lillie scooted closer to him, looking at the screen of the Dex and at the photos that it had been taking. Lillie started to get teary eyed, since she couldn’t recall seeing her brother that happy, feeling the lump in her throat grow with each picture she saw of him sporting a genuine smile.

«I haven’t seen him so happy in years...» she half sobbed.

Sol wrapped his arm around her, gently rubbing her back while trying to comfort her. She just kept on giving off soft whines, holding the tears back as Sol kept swiping through the photos. Finishing looking at the photos, Lillie wiped her tears away and smiled brightly. Sol ordered the RotomDex to delete the photos, knowing that Gladion would, most likely, want to see them if he figured out something happened while they were gone, and didn’t want him to figure it out, despite Lillie starting to look quite suspicious where she sat.


	31. Silvally

Since Hano beach were long, they had gotten a good portion out of the main area, where people were laying around, and being in the water. With their fingers intertwined, they continued down the beach, listening to the waves, the many Wingulls flying around and the distant screams from kids around the populated area of the beach. While walking, he looked down at their hands, and got conscious all of a sudden, on how small and delicate her hand were compared to his. Looking up in front of himself, a soft smile grew on his lips, and he got silent, getting lost in his thoughts. Luna noticed and leaned a little forward towards him, tilting her head. 

«Something on your mind?» she asked, giving his hand a light squeeze.

«You can say that.»

She hummed softly. «Care to tell?»

«It’s rather dumb and uninteresting.» he flatly replied.

«Try me. I have heard a lot already.» she said, followed by a soft giggle.

He stopped and moved her to his front, facing her. While doing so, he reached for her chin and tilted it up, placing a soft kiss on her lips. «You’ll most likely laugh at me...»

She smiled. «Enlighten me...You are just making me more curious now.»

Gladion chuckled softly. «I think you infected me the first time we met...those months ago.» he said, watching her expression going from a smile to a confused.

Tilting her head. «Oh? How so?» she asked, starting to think back, thinking that she maybe was sick or something similar. «Was i sick…?» she muttered, asking herself.

«No...» he muttered softly, placing his hands on her hips, pulling her closer to him. «Not like that.»

The thought of the marking on his chest had been bothering him, and he got quite curious if she had something similar, considering if the soulmate thing Lillie had mentioned at some point were true. Trying not to beat around the bush, he started to say something, only to get interrupted when a Wingull screeched and shat on his head as it passed above them. His eyes grew big for a few seconds, making Luna snort lightly before his usual frown appeared, looking up at the sky while internally cursing at the pokemon.

«Right...» he muttered in disgust, slightly hissing it. Luna tried her best to conceal her laughter by placing her hand in front of her mouth. Gladion sent a glare down to her, which made her just laugh more. «Hilarious indeed...» he hissed.

She inhaled deeply a few times, calming down her laughing. «Come on. Let’s wash it out before the smell settles to much.»

Gladion hummed and nodded slightly, carefully taking off the shirt and throwing it onto the beach. Luna took off her shorts and placed them with his shirt, walking out into the water with him. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed the massive scar across his torso. Getting out into the water, it reaching their waist, or rather, Gladion’s waist. Bending forward, dipping his head into the water, he started to ruffle his hair, trying to get most of the Wingull droppings out. Luna snapped herself out of the light trance of when she saw his scar, starting to help him clean his hair and bangs, running her fingers lightly through his hair. Getting most of it out, he stood up again, moving the bangs away from his face, frowning. While standing there, running his hand through his hair, Luna’s eyes darted right to his scar, and without thinking, reached and lightly started to trace it. He slightly flinched, looking down at her, seeing a worried expression on her face.

«I got it a long time ago.» he said softly.

She flinched and quickly retracted her hand. «Sorry...» she quickly replied.

He reached for her hand, pulling it up to him and placed a light kiss on top. «I lived. Just some training got wrong.» he said, meeting her eyes. «Do me a favour and don’t get any.» he added.

She smiled softly. «Something i can’t promise, but i’ll do my best.»

Taking a step forward towards her, he let go of her hand and placed both of his hands on her hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling that he were pulling her closer, as well as leaning down, meeting her lips. They shared a few soft kissed before getting interrupted by some roaring in the distance. They looked into the direction, and it slowly went up from Gladion as of who made those sounds, which was approaching fast.

«Silvally...» he muttered under his breath.

Walking up to the beach, Luna got into her shorts again, as well as Gladion got his shirt on. Knowing that Silvally were quite protective of him, he at least wanted to make sure that Luna were safe, the artificial pokemon being quite unpredictable around new people, and he didn’t want to take any chances. Taking her hand in his, they started to slowly walk towards where the roars were coming from, and they could see that something in the distance were running towards them. Gladion were looking quite unimpressed at the sight, and stopped, pulling her behind him. The pokemon had jumped out of its pokeball where their things were laying around, and saw that its trainer were nowhere to be seen, panicking. With that, it caught the scent of him and ran. Sol were around and tried to calm down the pokemon, even running a short distance in order to catch it, but stopped one he tripped, face planting into the sand. Hau and Lillie just watched with a mixture of shock and confusion as it happened. Watching the pokemon quickly approach, and once it saw Gladion, its roars became softer and more light, but it didn’t stop.

«Silvally…!» he called out for it. «Calm down!»

The pokemon didn’t listen and kept the pace, but as it was right in front of them, it stumbled in the sand, face planting, the sand going everywhere in front of it. Gladion sighed and hung his head in pure disbelief, shaking his head at the sight. Luna peeked from behind his back, looking at the massive unknown pokemon with big eyes. The pokemon slightly got up, laying there with it’s tongue out, trying to spit the sand that it got on it out. It was quite the sight, looking at the quite confused pokemon in front of them. Gladion told Luna to stay where she was standing while he walked up to it, squatting down in front of it.

«What are you doing?» he asked the pokemon in a stern tone. The pokemon looked at him, tongue still hanging out, giving off a low, content growl before it looked over his shoulder, seeing Luna, resulting in a lower and more intimidating growl. «Stop it!» he hissed at it. «You better behave.» he hissed.

The pokemon just looked at him, tilting its head, making Gladion groan lightly as he got up on his feet, reaching out for Luna who had kept her distance. She placed her hand in his and walked a little towards him, keeping her eyes on the pokemon that got up on its feet, still trying to spit out sand from its mouth. Luna were quite unsure about it, hearing that it did give her a rather intimidating growl towards her, trying to scare her off. Gladion noticed, giving the pokemon a glare.

«He’ll behave.» he said, keeping the glare on the pokemon.

«Okay...» she replied, letting out a sheepish chuckle.

Keeping her hand in his, he started to walk off, leaving the pokemon to get done spitting sand. Looking behind itself, seeing its trainer with a new girl was something it found very fascinating. It had been a while since it had seen its trainer protected someone. Silvally turned around, standing there watching the two walk off. It shook its body a little before hurrying up to the opposite side of Gladion, giving off a few cries. Once it was beside him, it looked over at Luna and gave a low dominant growl at her, thinking it was better to show that its going to be around at all times and that she couldn’t run away if she tried. Gladion just looked at the pokemon of his, the surprise quickly turning to a frown and a glare to it.

«What the fuck…?» Gladion muttered. Luna kept her eyes away from it, trying to stay calm, despite feeling quite intimidated by it.

* * *

After a while, they were with the others at the main area of the beach. Gladion quickly got Silvallys pokeball and called it back into it. Sol apologized, which Gladion said was fine, it was his pokemon after all and knew how it did behave most of the time. Sol chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. Lillie then told them that Hau had left a few minutes earlier, since Hala had called on him and could hear Guzma in the background, being his loud and obnoxious self. As she finished telling them that, watching Gladion take seat beside Luna, she looked at him with a smug smile appearing on her lips.

«So...» she started, shifting her position, facing them. «...Holding hands?» she started, tilting her head a little. Sol just sat on his spot, looking at the blonde girl for a few seconds, before realizing that Gladion and Luna had arrived hand in hand. «You are a thing now...Right?»

Gladion froze in his position, while Luna looked over at Lillie in surprise for a few seconds. Luna looked over at him, seeing that he had became beet red, looking quite uncomfortable where he was sitting. After the ordeal with Silvally, he didn’t really have any more fucks to give, resulting in him nodding and humming softly. Luna just smiled sweetly, gaining a faint blush on her cheeks. Lillie shrieked and clapped her hands in excitement, slightly jumping on her spot.

«Finally!» she exclaimed. She had no intention of saying it out loud and quickly covered her mouth. «Oops...That wasn’t supposed to come out...» Sol, Gladion and Luna just looked at her giving them a sheepish smile, followed by a nervous chuckle. Still being quite visible red, he asked what she meant with that. Lillie just smiled widely, shaking her head.

«Lillie...what did you mean by that?» he then hissed at her.

«Nothing...It just came out wrong!» she replied.

Sol and Luna exchanged looks and just shrugged, chuckling sheepishly. Sol then silently explained that the two blondes usually would banter like this, until either one of them got tired or flustered enough by something either of them said. The banter continued for a while, the two champions just listening and watching them go on about it. It ended with Lillie telling her brother to  _ ‘stop acting cool around your new girlfriend’ _ , which made him extremely flustered. Sol almost bursted out in laughter, covering his mouth with his hands in order to hide the massive grin that appeared on his lips. Luna just sat there in confusion, watching Gladion’s jaw drop slowly at what his sister had just said. Watching her brother being speechless, she got a victorious grin on her, humming proudly. Gladion was still just looking at her with his jaw open, trying to find something clever to reply back. It ended with Luna putting her index finger under his chin, lifting it up, closing his jaw. When his brain registered it, he looked at her, seeing her giving him a sweet smile as she moved her hand away. Gladion then just sighed and hung his head, admitting defeat, which made Luna chuckle softly.

«Tu n’as pas à agir cool autour de moi, tu sais?» she said to him, followed by a soft giggle.

«Ouais ouais...je sais...» he muttered softly.

After the bantering, the rest of the day were quite calm and uneventful. They did meet a few other familiar faces, as well as Kahuna Olivia were around, just doing her usual rounds and checking that everything was alright. She had a few words with Sol about some champion matters, which he said that he’ll take a look at the next day, as well as mentioning that Burnet had been working on something, which caught Lillie’s interest, deciding that she would pay her a visit the next day. Olivia did greet Gladion and Luna real quick before she left again, saying that she had to check up on Lana and Mallow while being on it. As the sun started to settle in the horizon, they packed up their belongings and decided to leave for the day, seeing that others were thinking the same. Walking off the beach and up to Hano’s entrance, Sol and Lillie just continued on, starting to talk about pokemon. Gladion stood behind a little, not looking forward to get home and get bombarded with questions from his younger sister.

Luna tilted her head at him. «You okay?» she asked, seeing that his expression had dropped.

«I’m fine...Just not looking forward to getting interrogated later.» he replied, looking down at her with a sheepish smile.

«Oh.» she said, giggling softly. «I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s a common rule among brothers and sisters, non? Get all the facts.~»

«Common rule it sure is...» he said, followed by a light groan. Luna chuckled softly.

Walking down the nearby stairs, just getting out of sight from everyone passing, he pulled her close, locking their lips. They shared a few kisses, him muttering that he didn’t really want to leave, thinking of Lillie and the many questions that were waiting for him. Luna chuckled and told him that he could stay the night.

«Tempting...But i have Aether stuff to work on tomorrow...» he sighed.

«I’ll stop by then and keep you company. If you want that is?» she replied, lightly tracing a circle on his chest.

«You’re always welcome.» he said, giving her a light peck on her forehead.

Standing around a little longer, sharing a few more soft kisses, they parted. Luna got inside the hotel and Gladion slowly finding his way through the main street of Heahea city, seeing Lillie and Sol standing outside the terminal in the distance. He didn’t look forward to the rest of the evening, seeing the massive grin on Lillie’s face was proof enough for him that he needed to lock himself up in his room until the next day.


	32. Mega Evolution

Two weeks had passed since they had been at Hano Beach, spending the whole day there, as well as Lillie and Sol getting to know that Gladion and Luna were dating. Within those two weeks, it had already gotten around Aether that Gladion had a new girlfriend, the employees talking among themselves about it, chatting about their opinion on the relationship. Most were happy for him, knowing that his ex were quite toxic, for both him and the company as a whole. Whenever Luna were around, the employees would whisper and talk in a hushed voice about them. It didn’t bother Luna, as she had gotten quite used to it by being the champion of Kalos, and there would always be something talked about her. Gladion didn’t like it, feeling that his privacy were getting invaded, but ignored it to the best of his ability, but would always end up in a blushing mess, growling to himself. Silvally had also slightly warmed up to her, but the pokemon kept giving off a few dominant growls here and there, which made Luna quite wary of it. Because of that, Gladion kept the pokemon in its pokeball whenever she was around, not wanting to make her even more uncomfortable. 

Gladion had booked the battlefield, since he and Luna would do some more mega evolution training. While he were waiting for her to arrive, he went over a few documents that Lusamine had left for him, handing them over to Wicke when he got them done. While doing that, Faba were around, complaining loudly as usual. He didn’t even care if Luna were around, as he would keep on going, talking about how great he is, and that he’s only thinking about the future for the company, adding in that he were the most fitted to be president whenever Lusamine decided to retire. Wicke ignored him, as well as Gladion did. Luna didn’t like the way he were talking, and got increasingly more irritated at him. It went to far one time, when he started to insult Gladion, making Luna drop the English facade, scolding him in Kalosian. Wicke and Gladion just stood there, watching and listening her talk harshly to the older guy, and Faba didn’t know what to do, as he just looked at her with big eyes, feeling himself getting intimidated by her words and the way she delivered them to him, despite not knowing what she said. Gladion struggled to keep the growing smirk off his face, chuckling silently at the expression Faba had. A mixture of shock, surprise and confusion. An expression that was hard to see from him on a daily basis. Faba kept his mouth shut whenever she was around after that, thinking that he would do the Kalosian a favor of not making a fun of herself again.

As he got done with the documents, handing them over to either Faba or Wicke, he went down to the dock, deciding to wait for Luna there. It didn’t take to long for her to arrive, as when he got down to the dock, the ferry had already pulled up and Luna had recently gotten off, seeing her walk towards the elevator, digging through her bag.

«Bonjour.» he greeted her, gently placing his hand on her waist, pulling her towards him.

She didn’t see him, being busy digging through her bag for the collar and the mega stone. She flinched slightly when he placed his hand on her waist, pulling her towards him. «Oh! Bonjour.~» she replied quickly, the surprise quickly turning into a sweet smile.

«Caught you off guard?» he chuckled.

Luna chuckled sheepishly. «Oui...Sorry about that, i was just...busy looking for my mega stone and the collar...»

«Forgot it?»

She shaked her head. «Non. It’s right here.~» she said and dragged the collar up from her bag, the mega stone attached still. «So...Shall we get going then? If you are ready for it that is.» she asked, putting the collar down into her bag again.

«I’m as ready as i can get. Same with Lucario.» he replied flatly. Turning to her side and presenting his arm to her. «Shall we?»

Luna smiled and nodded. «Oui, mon monsieur.~»

* * *

After a few battles between their pokemon, they had taken a seat at the bench in the area, taking a break. Her Lopunny were as excited as ever, jumping around and giving off content and playful cries. Gladion’s Lucario were quite tired of it’s excitement, growling to itself, but couldn’t really do anything, getting affected by its  _ Cute Charm _ ability. The two pokemon kept moving around, Lopunny literally just jumping about while Lucario were trying to catch it out of irritation. Luna giggled by the sight and apologized for her pokemon’s behavior. Gladion chuckled softly, saying that its fine, knowing that his pokemon is quite the loner and needs some interaction with other pokemon that the ones on his team. After the break, they got up and to got ready for some more training, deciding to have a few more battles. Luna could see that his pokemon were getting more and more fatigued, and told him that they should stop for the day after the current one, seeing that his pokemon were getting slower. Gladion agreed, not wanting to overwork his pokemon.

Since it would be the last of the day, Gladion decided to give it another try with the keystone, taking it out of his pocket. He kept it on hand for a few more seconds, only to notice that Luna were ordering her pokemon without saying anything, a habit she had picked up from Diantha.

«You keep getting silent, Luna.»

«Oh...Sorry. Bad habit.~» she replied, followed by a giggle.

The battle continued until his Lucario got in front of him, breathing heavily. Gladion took the chance, seeing that it would be the last chance of the day before a long rest for the pokemon. «Lucario, let’s go!» he shouted, touching the keystone. The pokemon gave a cry and nodded, bracing itself.

Light emitted from the key stone, as well as Lucario got surrounded by it in an instance. Luna watched in anticipation, keeping her own keystone ready if his pokemon evolved further. With a light explosion, his Lucario gave a cry and stood there proudly, and immense aura surrounding it. Gladion and Luna just looked baffled by the sight, seeing it’s mega form.

«It...It happened...» he muttered to himself, looking at his own pokemon with big eyes.

He snapped out of it when the Lopunny mega evolved, letting out a confident cry, as well as Luna ordering her pokemon to use  _ Focus Blast _ . He quickly ordered his pokemon to use  _ Aura Sphere _ . The pokemon charged up a light orb between its hands, keeping it’s gaze fixated on the other mega across the field. The Lopunny put its hands together, charging up a light blue orb, leaping towards the other pokemon, sending the orb straight ahead. Lucario stood its ground, sending the charged up orb towards the Lopunny at the same time as it sent it attack at itself. The two orbs collided, making a loud explosion and created a massive dust cloud around the field from the impact of the two attacks. Both trainers standing there, keeping their eyes on the field as the dust slowly subsided around them and their pokemon, revealing the Lucario, standing there proudly, while the Lopunny had de-evolved, going back to it’s normal form, sitting on the ground with its hands on its head, bracing itself for something to come. The rabbit pokemon were breathing heavily, having used up the rest of its power on that last attack, which most likely ended up making it go back to its normal form.

Luna found the pokeball and called it back. «Good job, Lopunny. You did great.» she said in a hushed voice.

Gladion walked up to his pokemon, just looking at it. The Lucario were studying itself, looking quite surprised, but gave Gladion a content and proud cry, puffing its chest out. «We actually did it...» he muttered softly, not sure how to react.

Luna hurried over to him. He didn’t notice that she were approaching quickly, and as he turned around, she flung herself over him, tackling him down to the ground. She squealed, wriggling her body. «You did it! You finally managed to get your pokemon to mega evolve!» she exclaimed loudly.

Placing his hands around her waist, he kept staring up at the ceiling. «Yeah...» he muttered, still quite taken aback.

She leaned back, looking down at him. «I know it’s a lot to take in at the moment, but...» she said, only to hug him tightly again, squealing more. Gladion tightened the grip he had around her as it slowly went up for him that his Lucario finally could mega evolve, chuckling sheepishly at the thought.

The pokemon just rolled its eyes at the two, going back to study itself, being impressed on how cool it looked and on how cool it felt while being in its mega form. The evolution quickly got undone, reverting back to its normal form. It gave a dissatisfied grunt, crossing its arms and started to pout. Luna eventually sat up on her knees when she were done keeping him pinned to the ground, smiling softly. Gladion sat up, looking at the girl in front of him and smiled softly back to her.

«This calls for a celebration...» she started, only to get interrupted by his lips on hers.

Parting, he had a smug smirk on his lips. «That’s all the  _ celebration _ i need.» he murmured.

«I can be happy with that...» she murmured back.

* * *

Lusamine and Wicke had been watching the training take place for a while, and were quite interested on how it would turn out from the control room, overlooking the entire battlefield. When they saw that his Lucario managed to mega evolve, the two women gasped in surprise. Though, it didn’t take long before Lusamine’s attention were on Luna’s Lopunny when it mega evolved, finding the form quite stunning and started to wonder if she would be able to get her Lopunny to mega evolve sometime. Wicke noticed that she were thinking about something, considering that she got very silent and focused. Something that Gladion also did whenever he were concentrating on a certain task. When Luna tackled him down, and him planting a kiss on her, Lusamine frowned, as she had told him several times that he shouldn’t get too close to the Kalosian champion. Seeing them close made her quite irritated, but couldn’t say much in the matter for the time being. She cleared her throat and then started to wander off. Wicke knew what the blonde woman was thinking and frowning for, and hoped that she would see that the Kalos champion were good for Gladion, since Lusamine were having a grudge against his ex girlfriend those few years back.

Gladion and Luna got up on their feet after a few minutes, and him calling his pokemon back into its pokeball. Luna were still acting quite excited. Still giving off soft squeals and clapping her hands in excitement, wriggling her body at the same time. The excitement on her part got interrupted when Lillie hurried through the door, panting heavily.

«What is going on in here!?» she exclaimed, looking around the field.

«Nothing is going on...» Gladion replied flatly to her.

She pointed at him and cleared her throat. «Something have had to happen here! I heard a massive explosion!»

Luna chuckled softly, while Gladion just sighed. «Just some pokemon training. Nothing more, nothing less.» he said to her.

«You sure about that…?» she asked, narrowing her eyes at them both.

Luna clapped her hands again. «Gladion just managed to mega evolve his Lucario.~» she said cheerfully.

Lillie’s eyes grew big while looking at the two. «Wait...Really!?» she exclaimed loudly. «You managed to mega evolve your Lucario!?»

«I did...and please stop shouting...» he replied to her.

«Oh my gosh!» she said loudly, jumping on her spot and clapping her hands in excitement. «That’s awesome! Can you show me?»

«Some other time. Lucario would need to rest for a while now...» he replied dryly to her.

«Ah, right. Oh my gosh...Sol is going to be so jealous now...» she added.

«How come?» Luna asked, tilting her head.

Lillie grinned and giggled softly. «He’s been trying to get one of his pokemon to mega evolve.» 

«Oh, right. I believe he asked me to help some months ago.» she said, smiling sweetly to the blonde girl.

Lillie ended the conversation quickly, as she had places to be. At least that’s what she told them both before she left in a hurry. As she left, they got out of the arena, starting to walk down the hallway. Gladion then came to think of the time left Luna had in Alola, and her departure were approaching rather quickly when the other champions were arriving back for the rest of the meetings. Looking at her from the corner of his eyes, he couldn’t help himself gaining a blush across his cheeks. For the short amount of time they had been around each other, he already knew that she could read him like an open book, which was quite strange, but comforting at the same time. Now that there wouldn’t be any more training involved, he made the decision to himself that he’ll try and spend as much time as possible with her, not wanting to think about the coming month, that would most likely be the last before she would be leaving for Kalos again.


	33. Smitten by every Second

Two days after Gladion managed to mega evolve his pokemon, Lillie had taken Luna out to Hau’oli City for some shopping. Luna haven’t been around in Hau’oli, other than a quick stop at the terminal for letting people off and getting people on. Lillie wanted her expertise and view on fashion, despite the Kalosian and Alolan fashion being quite different from each other. Lillie had asked her a day ago, where she accepted, wanting to take a look around the quite famous city in Alola. The blonde girl had gotten quite excited for the day, and wanted to spend as much time as possible with Luna, seeing why her brother liked her and that it was just not for her champion title. They had been walking around for a little after arriving the marine, and looked around when Lillie looked over at her, seeing that Luna were looking around at the buildings and the many shops that were lined up around the street. 

Not wanting to dive right into the uncomfortable questions on what she liked about her brother, she decided to start with some random and rather common ones. «First time in Alola?» she asked.

Luna looked over at her and nodded, smiling. «Oui. I have never been out of Kalos, so it’s nice to see a new region.» she replied.

Lillie nodded. «...And a new boyfriend...» she muttered silently to herself, smirking. «You have been on Akala Island only the whole time? While being here in Alola?»

«Non...I have been at Ula’ula Island a few times.» she said, humming softly.

«Ah, okay. I guess those are the dates with Gladion...hmm?» Lillie added, looking smug.

Luna chuckled sheepishly, blushing slightly. «Most of them...» she muttered.

«Most of them?» Lillie asked, looking rather confused.

Luna nodded. «Oui...My first time on Ula’ula were on a blind date Diantha had put me up on.» she said, chuckling sheepishly.

«Ooh...So that’s the time when my brother save you from that creep?»

«Oui...» Luna muttered lightly, looking a little confused as of how she knew, since it was very late at the time.

Lillie noticed and smiled sweetly to her. «He never said anything else than muttering about some creep the next day...So i figured it was that time.» she said.

Luna felt a little more relieved, but quite embarrassed that she knew about it. Lillie then blurted out that it was quite obvious from that morning that Gladion did like her. «Is that so…?»

Lillie nodded and hummed softly. «I’m happy for you though. It’s been a while since i have seen my brother genuinely happy.» she added and kept on walking. 

Luna was flabbergasted by what she said, slowing down her pace and starting to fall behind the blonde girl. She were glad to hear that Gladion were happy, and that she probably were the reason behind it, which she didn’t mind, but got quite curious about it. Lillie noticed that Luna had almost stopped and looked behind her, calling for her. Luna snapped out, smiling softly at her and hurried up to her side, not wanting to make her worried for anything that she just said, though, she got very curious about it.

* * *

While the girls were hanging around in Hau’oli, minding their own business, Gladion had been working on a few documents and then taken his leave for the Battle Dome, meeting up with Sol there to take on a few rounds in the arena. Hau were going to join some time later according to Sol, who had invited him along, but he had some things to work on with Hala. As they arrived at the Battle Dome, there was already a battle going on and decided watch a few battles, see who were battling and if some of them would be their opponents later. Getting up to the seating area, they found a seat each and sat down. They hadn’t been sitting for long before Sol left, taking a call. He excused himself and left the seating area in a hurry, looking rather disappointed as he took it. Gladion just sighed and shaked his head, looking back down at the battle taking place. It took a few minutes before Sol were back and sat down beside him, saying that it was just something league related.

«Sorry about that. Just Molayne that needed some information.» he said, chuckling sheepishly.

«I figured as much.» Gladion replied flatly.

Sol hummed softly. «Yupp. Going to update the hall of fame recorder, and possibly a few more things. Not sure about what that will be yet.» he said, shrugging.

«Probably the security of the place, and some extra exits around the league...You have been stuck there a few times already.» Gladion said, looking at him from the corner of his eyes.

Sol nodded and chuckled. «Yeah...Hopefully some more exits. It wasn’t fun being stuck when the system fails.»

«You should just get a bed there instead.» he said, smirking mischievously at the champion beside him.

«You funding that then?» Sol replied, not sounding, nor looking impressed at the blonde.

«Hah, you wish.» he chuckled.

Sol chuckled as well, nudging the guy. «I’m sure you want to.»

He scoffed. «You would have to persuade me more than that, champ.»

«Damn it...» he muttered, snapping his fingers. «I really wanted that bed now.» he said, sounding disappointed. Gladion just rolled his eyes.

After watching for a while, they got down from the seating area and headed out to the lobby, meeting Hau as they were about to registrate their pokemon for the battle. They got their pokemon registered and walked in, getting to their designated gates for the next battle to start. While he stood there, looking outside at the arena, seeing the maintenance people cleaning it up, and the other trainers get their pokemon back into their pokeballs, he got a message on his phone. He quickly got it up and saw that it was from Luna, and smiled softly as he opened it.

_ Bonjour.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Bonjour. How’s the day been so far with Lillie?  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ It’s been fun. We have just wrapped up, so Lillie is on her way back to Aether, and i’m just about to get to the terminal at Heahea City.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ Lillie wasn’t to pushy? She have a tendency to talk a lot when she’s nervous as well.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ She definitely was nervous then, hehe. But it’s all good, i had a great time. And i’m sure Lillie was having fun too.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

The crowd in the arena started to cheer as the host started to hype the crowd up, making Gladion quickly look up at the entrance and outside, seeing the lights slowly turning down, indicating that he should get ready to get out and battle. He quickly replied to Luna that he was at the Battle Dome and told her that if he wanted to, she could meet him there when she arrived. Luna replied that she would do that, but had to make a quick stop at the resort, getting her things to her room.

_ Alright. I’ll see you shortly then.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Oui, je te verrai prochainement.~  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Gladion nodded and cleared his throat, putting his phone back into his pocket while looking out at the arena, approaching the entrance and waiting for the host to give the challengers a cue for them to get outside.

* * *

After a few rounds in the Battle Dome, Gladion were in the lobby, just looking around at the people that were wandering around. Sol and Hau had taken their leave to the nearby malasada shop, taking a break with their pokemon since the latest Royal Battle were quite the challenge. Luna had been at the resort, getting the few new things she had brought to her room, and changed her attire for something more casual and comfortable before finding her way over to Royal Avenue. Walking over to the dome and heading inside, she looked around a little and found Gladion standing to the side, watching the screens intently. She walked up to him and poked his shoulder, smiling sweetly as he turned and looked at her.

«Waiting for a long time?» she asked.

«No, almost recently just got out of the battle.» he replied softly, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her closer.

«Alright. Here alone?»

«Sol and Hau were around, but they headed out a few minutes ago, taking a break at the malasada shop nearby.» he sighed. «The battle wasn’t even that hard...» he added while shaking his head.

Luna chuckled softly. «I’m sure.» she said.

He nodded and hummed softly, looking up at the screens over the front desk. «Oh, right...» he then muttered. «Did Lillie mention the event that’s going to happen tomorrow?» he asked.

«Briefly. She didn’t say much, other than there was going to be an event at Ula’ula Island. What event is it?»

«Just Sophocles that’s going to test out some new stuff he have been working on, and it seems that Molayne made an event out of it.» he replied. «So...» he started, a blush starting to appear on his cheeks.

Luna smiled and giggled lightly. «Bien sùr.~ I would love to go.» she replied, giving him a light pat on his cheek, making him look at her.

His eyes grew big in surprise, but his expression softened quickly. «Yeah?» he muttered. Luna hummed softly and nodded. «Right...Meeting you at Mailie or should i get you in Heahea?»

«Whatever you want. If it’s more trouble for you to get me at Heahea, i’ll just meet you at Malie. Oui?»

While talking about it, they figured out that he would just meet her at Malie some time before the event would start. As they stood there, a trainer that had just finished their battle royale walked out and noticed them standing there. The trainer knew Gladion since he had been beaten by him several times prior. Seeing that the blonde were acting differently around this girl he had never seen were quite interesting, knowing that Gladion always had a serious and intimidating energy around him. He didn’t walk up to them, but followed their movements when Gladion decided to take on a battle more before leaving and Luna walking up the stairs, finding herself a seat. The trainer decided to quickly registrate his pokemon and get into the same battle as Gladion, just to see how his performance were now that a girl he liked were around, so he didn’t waste any time to get into the arena again. While that happened, Luna found her way upstairs to find a seat and didn’t notice a familiar face in the corner of the lobby’s second floor. The acquaintance of hers had been looking for her, but didn’t manage to find her, so they decided to take a break, watching the Royal Battles and take on some challengers, and got quite surprised when seeing her enter the seating area.

«Ah...There you are.»

* * *

After the battle, Luna and Gladion met up again in the lobby, only to be met with Sol and Hau, registering their pokemon for the next. They had a few words and greeted Luna before they walked off, getting ready for the battle they were taking part of. Luna and Gladion took their leave, getting outside to the Royal Avenue. The trainer that knew Gladion followed shortly, starting to shout remarks out to him.

«Got yourself a new lucky charm?» he said in a condescending tone. «You sure you are going to keep her just as long as the last?»

While walking toward the PMC, Gladion tried his best to ignore him, telling Luna that she shouldn’t listen to what he were saying. She nodded, but it just made her more curious, considering what Lillie said earlier. The trainer kept following them and shouting whatever to them as they walked off, passing the PMC and heading over to Route 6. Walking off and trying to talk, the trainer kept on interrupting them, and kept on following them. It eventually became to much for Gladion, stopping abruptly and turning around to face him.

«You better shut the fuck up about things you don’t know anything about.» he snarled harshly. Luna stopped, exchanging glances between the two, seeing that Gladion’s frown were getting more prominent.

The trainer stopped a few feet away from them, crossing his arms. «Oh, sounding scary now, eh? Your scary facade ain’t getting to me, Gladion.»

Gladion scoffed. «Just fuck off.» he snarled and turned around. Luna didn’t hesitate following him, being quite confused about the situation.

The trainer kept shouting things at him as they walked off, getting to the main street and gaining some distance from the guy. Gladion got so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice that they turned and took the path down to the beach, passing the few people that were laying around and enjoying the sun while they could. After walking for a few minutes, Luna nudged him lightly.

«Gladion…?» she softly called for him.

He snapped out of it and looked down at her, humming softly. «What?» he lightly asked. She didn’t say anything as she tilted her head, having a worried expression on her face. He sighed softly. «I’m fine, so please don’t look at me like that...» he said, seeing that she just raised an eyebrow at him.

«Alright...If you say so, though...that just made me even more curious after what Lillie said earlier.» she said.

«What did Lillie say now…?» he asked, slightly growling it, thinking that his sister had badmouthed him or something similar.

«Nothing bad.» she replied with a light chuckle. «Only that it has been a while since she had seen you genuinely happy.» she added, smiling softly. «How come? If i may ask...»

«I have no idea why she would ever say that...» he muttered, shaking his head.

«...And that  _ he _ did say something about keeping me  _ around as long as the last _ ? What does that even mean…?» she asked, placing her hands behind her back.

«Well….uh...» he muttered, not sure were to start, and it was something he definitely didn’t want to talk about.

«I don’t really care what you have done in the past. If i did, i would most likely have avoided you, knowing that you have been a part of the evil team in Alola.» she said, getting closer to him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

«I guess...» he replied softly, looking down at her, seeing her soff, warm smile. He sighed softly, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing his lips against her forehead lightly.

He hesitated slightly before starting slowly to tell why the trainer they met earlier was like that towards him. Luna listened intently, not interrupting and if there was things he left out, she wouldn’t pry on it, clearly seeing that it was a topic he really didn’t want to talk about. Without noticing it himself, he literally told her what had happened when Sol arrived in Alola, with the Ultra Beast and with Lusamine, how and why he joined Team Skull. He did leave out a big portion of details, finding them a bit too bizarre for her to understand. He also told her about how his ex girlfriend were only after the company, and how that almost ruined him and the little trust he had managed to regain with his mother. Luna were shocked, just staring at him with big eyes as he finished.

Gladion made a grimace. «Probably why my mother keeps on dumping a shit load of documents on me...» he added before looking at Luna, seeing her shocked expression. «To much?»

«I’ll get around it...» she replied, followed by a sheepish chuckle. «So much in such a short time...»

«Basically my life story...Sorry for going overboard.»

«Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you told me, and trust me enough to even do so...But...What about the thing Lillie said then?» she asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

He blushed into a deep red color. «Well...After all that...You then decided to bump into me...»

Luna blushed and smiled, giving off a light giggle. «Is that so? You were that smitten by me?»

«I’m getting there...» he murmured, leaning down and planting a soft kiss on the base of her neck. She hummed softly, indicating that she didn’t really believe what he just said. As she did, he lightly bit her, making her yelp.

«Ow! Gladion!» she hissed softly, leaning back and giving him a light slap on his chest, pouting slightly.

Gladion just chuckled, moving his hands down to her hips and pulled her as close as possible. Looking down at her light pout, he just gave her a smug smirk while slowly leaning down to her, her pout slowly faded as he got closer. «Getting more smitten by every second...» he murmured as his lips were hovering over hers.

«Would definitely hope so...» she murmured back before his lips locked with hers.


	34. Mt. Hokulani

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind that the characters are age approriate. Gladion is 19, Luna is 18 and Sol, Lillie and Hau is 17.

The next day passed rather quickly, and Luna had been having a few conversations with Diantha and her family on her phone throughout the day, taking up most of the time. It was just the regular chatting on how she’s doing alone in Alola, and if she isn’t lonely without Diantha there. Luna reassured them that she was fine, and had made some friends, leaving out that she had gotten herself a boyfriend, knowing that her mother would freak out. Her mother kept talking about how her older brother, Ciel, had been wandering around Kalos for some unknown reason, to which Luna just sighed softly at, telling her that he’s probably just trying to find something to write about, knowing that he works at Lumiose Times, the main newspaper in Lumiose. She also told her that their father were going to travel to a different region again with a few Scatterbugs, evolving them there and see if they would gain a new pattern on their wings. Luna could hear that her mother were sounding quite lonely, and reassured her that her brother would be around, and that she would be home in around two months.

«Oh, honey...I hope you’ll be home soon. You have been away in Alola for a while, and i’m really starting to miss you big time!» her mother, Celeste, muttered softly.

«You’ll be fine, mom. I’ll be home before you know it...» Luna replied, trying to sound cheerful as she came to think about Gladion.

«I know i’ll be fine, Luna. I just really miss you.» she replied, noticing the tone in her voice drop. «Will you be alright then? Something going on over there in Alola?» she asked, sounding concerned.

«Oh...Yeah...Yeah, i’ll be fine.» she said, letting out a nervous laughter.

«Luna…?» Celeste muttered her name again.

«I’ll be going then!» Luna quickly added. «Going over to another island since something is happening there...and i would have to get ready before it’s to late.»

«Alright, honey. Have fun and be safe. Love you.~» Celeste replied. She were still worried from the drop in her voice, but didn’t want to pry, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to help out much over the phone, much less, make her more upset than what she started to sound like.

«I will...Love you too.» Luna said softly and hung up. She inhaled deeply and let it out with a sigh, hanging her head slightly. Putting the phone onto the table in her room, she clapped her cheeks and shaked her head. «Back to “ _ work _ ”!»

Celeste kept holding her phone in her hand, just looking at the screen. «Oh honey...The tone in your voice just confirms that there’s something you don’t want to leave behind there.»

Walking back and forth in her room a little, just going through her bag with clothes and debating with herself of what she should be wearing. She found a few different clothes and put them on the bed, looking over them and mixing to see if each of them would look better with what she had originally thought of or not. She decided for the red pleated skirt, tie-neck red blouse, black thigh high stockings and her red Mary Jane shoes, accessorizing it with her red fedora and the black feather pin. Now that she had narrowed it down, she took a quick look at the time on her phone, deciding that she would take a quick shower and just get herself ready and then leave for Ula’ula Island.

* * *

Gladion had been in Malie for a few minutes already, just looking around while waiting for the ferry from Akala Island to arrive. Lillie, Hau and Sol had already started their journey up to Mt. Hokulani, wanting to get the best spots for the viewing of the fireworks, which was the main event, despite Sophocles and Molany making it bigger than what it originally was. He sighed and turned to face the terminal, seeing a ferry pulling up, he started to walk over, hoping that it was the ferry from Akala and not from Melemele or Poni. Getting over the bridge and into the terminal, he stood by the entrance a little before he spotted Luna in the crowd, feeling relieved that it was the ferry from Akala. Luna spotted him as she walked out and smiled softly, approaching him.

«Bonjour.~» she said cheerfully.

«Bonjour.» he replied, placing his hands on her hips and pulled close. «It takes place on Mt. Hokulani. You ready to get up there?»

She nodded and hummed softly. «As ready as i can be.~»

He nodded and let go of her, looking her down a little before she linked her arm with his, getting out of the terminal and heading towards Route 10, taking the  _ Exeggutor Express _ up to the top. On the way over to the bus stop, Gladion mentioned that there would probably be a few battles, though, he had no plans on joining them. Luna had no plans to begin with of joining any pokemon battles, which she told him, since she didn’t know about that part of the event. He mentioned it since Lillie had been talking a lot about it, wanting to watch Sol in battle, as it had been a while. Luna giggled softly, saying that it sounded like she had a crush on the Alolan champion, which he confirmed.

«It’s pretty obvious on her side, though i believe Sol haven’t noticed yet...» he said, hissing the latter slightly.

Luna giggled. «I’m sure he either knows or will figure it out sooner or later.»

«Probably...» he lightly hissed.

Getting over to the bus stop, they waited for a few minutes, seeing that there was others waiting as well. While standing there, he said that they would be away from the crowd, watching the fireworks show from a different place and to be alone, as he didn’t want anyone else around. The people around the stop were talking rather loudly, but it got pretty silent when the bus arrived, letting everyone on and started to head up to the top of Hokulani. The ride didn’t take to long, and as quickly they got up there, Luna and Gladion wandered off from the main area, heading off to a more secluded place down the road. While walking off and passing the PMC, seeing the many people standing around, chatting and just generally waiting for the fireworks show to start. They didn’t see Sol and Lillie anywhere, thought, they didn’t really look that much either for them. The three were there, and they saw them, but didn’t call for them, just giggling at the sight of a certain edgy character being head over heels for someone.

«It’s really weird seeing your brother like that.» Sol said in a hushed voice.

«I know, but it’s refreshing! The edgy aesthetics are getting old anyways...» she replied, giggling.

«Sure is getting old.» he added, laughing softly.

As they stood there, a loud noise could be heard and Lillie flinched, jumped towards Sol and clinged to his arm, which take him completely off guard, getting beet red. Lillie looked around vigorously to see where the noise came from, only to see nothing than a crowd looking confused and exchanging glances, asking each other what happened and if that was the entire event. Sol muttered her name lightly, to which she looked up at him, eyes meeting. Her eyes grew big and she became beet red herself, but didn’t let go of him as she looked down at the ground, muttering that she was sorry.

«It’s fine...It’s fine. It was quite sudden and a loud noise...» he muttered nervously, scratching the back of his neck and having a sheepish smile across his lips.

«Y-y-yeah...» she stuttered, still holding tightly onto his arm. She kept clinging to him, getting the sensation of feeling safer if she did, but were debating within herself if she should let go or not.

Luna and Gladion stopped and looked around to see where the noise came from, but didn’t pay too much attention to it as they continued down the road and away from the crowd. They walked off and turned a corner to head off to quite hidden and secluded spot, having full view of Mailie City and the sky. Walking off to a small peak, seeing over Mailie City. Luna had been looking up at the observatory a few times when she was in Malie, though, it was the first time actually being on top of the mountain. It had already started to get darker, as the sun were laying quite low in the horizon, the sky slowly going from the warm orange color to a colder, dark blue-ish hue. Getting a little closer to the edge and into the small patch of grass, they sat down. Sitting down and close, she lightly leaned against him, looking out at the scenery. She took off her fedora and placed it beside her on the ground, on top of her bag as she reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers and laying her head on his shoulder. Gladion hesitated, but eventually put his head on top of hers, gently rubbing her thumb with his as they kept their eyes out in front of them, watching the sky go dark and the stars slowly appearing. Sitting there in silence, Gladion found her unusually quiet, and glanced down at their hands that were intertwined for a brief second before looking at her from the corner of his eyes. She had her neutral expression, though, there was just something he could tell that were off.

Nuzzling into her forehead lightly. «You alright? You seem bothered by something.» he asked.

Luna smiled and hummed softly. «I’m fine, really. Just...enjoying the moment.~» she replied and closed her eyes.

«You sure?»

She lightly nodded. «I’m sure. I guess i’m just a little tired from the day. Been on the phone most of it...» she said, followed by a sheepish chuckle.

«If you are exhausted, we can leave. It’s just a fireworks show, which is pretty common around here on Hokulani.» he said, lifting her hand up and placing a light kiss on top.

«Non.~ I have been waiting for this the whole day as well...so there’s no way i’m leaving until i at least see some artificial colors getting blown up in the sky.»

He chuckled softly. «Alright. Just...let me know if you want to leave. Don’t want to force you to stay around if you are tired.»

«I will.~ Don’t you worry about that.» she replied, using her other hand and gently patted him on his knee and moved her head slightly up to him, giving him a light peck on his cheek. Gladion leaned into it unconsciously, smiling softly.

* * *

After a while as the fireworks started, they kept their eyes up at the sky, watching the many different patterns and the different colors that colored up the dark sky. Sophocles had made a lot of different pokemon patterns, though, the most common one was of Togedemaru and Pikachu, them being of the electric types. Molanye were around to make sure that there wouldn’t be any trouble with the explosives, knowing that Team Skull would most likely try and mess things up. Luckily they weren’t around, and if some of them were, they were keeping themselves busy by looking at the fireworks in the sky. Around the PMC, Guzma and Plumeria were standing around, keeping their people away from trouble. Guzma were groaning to himself, complaining that his legs and feet were hurting, while Plumeria kept telling him that he could just sit down onto the ground. Guzma kept on muttering that he didn’t want to do that, as his butt would just start to hurt, the ground being full of small sharp rocks. Plumeria just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, keeping her eyes up on the sky, alongside the idiot and the other Skull members. Being bored, he kept looking around and eventually noticed a pair down the road in a patch of grass. Looking hard and for long, he finally saw who it was, and couldn’t help but to grin massively.

«Well well...Would you look at that.» he chuckled with a smirk.

Plumeria hummed and looked at him. «Look at what?» she asked, hissing it slightly at him. Guzma just nodded down to the patch, to which she hesitated to turn in that direction. Her eyes grew big for a few seconds before turning to Guzma real quick. «Don’t you even dare to ruin their moment.» she hissed harshly at him.

«You wound me, sis.» he said, trying to sound theatrical. Plumeria just rolled her eyes at him.

A few hours passed, and Luna and Gladion decided to leave, as there wasn’t anything else going on other than the fireworks. Seeing that Luna were slightly fatigued, he didn’t want to make her stay around and ruin herself because of him. They got up, but didn’t take the express down, as it wouldn’t be able to pass the massive crowd that had gathered at the top, and that were scattered around the roads for the light show. They walked down, taking their time as she looked around as well. Once at the bottom and at Route 10, they got over to Mailie City and the terminal, getting a ticket over to Akala. They had to wait a little for the ferry to arrive, but as it did, they quickly got on and stood outside on the deck, Luna wanted to see the fireworks while leaving the island as well. There wasn’t many on the ferry, so they were pretty much alone where they were standing on deck. Gladion were leaning against the wall, and Luna had placed herself in front of her, her back facing him while leaning against him. He had lightly wrapped his arms around her waist, nuzzling into her neck while keeping his eyes up towards the Ula’ula Island as they left. The further they got from the island, the more intense his nuzzles became, eventually making him lightly suckle on her skin, giving her a hickey.

Looking at the marking he just made on her, he smirked and chuckled lightly. «All mine...» he murmured.

Luna placed her hand on her neck, on top of the hickey he had just given her. «By Arceus...» she muttered and slightly leaned to the side, looking up at him with a small pout.

«Well ain’t you adorable.» he murmured to her, having a smirk across his lips.

She hummed. «Hmm...You don’t even know half of it.~» she murmured back.

He laughed softly. «I’m sure i don’t...Care to show me?»

«I don’t know...Maybe? You even up for the task?» she replied in a low, seductive tone.

«Don’t you underestimate me, woman.» he chuckled and leaned down, giving her a light nibble beside the hickey. She yelped slightly, though, it came out more like a soft, low moan, which made him smirk even wider.

They kept on flirting like that as the ferry approached Akala, and docked up at the terminal. Walking off the ferry and away from the terminal, starting on the main street over to the resort, they kept their arms linked and fingers intertwined. While heading over, they saw that there was still a lot of tourists roaming the streets, taking photos and whatnot in front of the different buildings and shops. It was quite common, but the sight would never be any less weird. Ignoring them to the fullest, they just continued over to the resort. Slowing down around the entrance, and eventually stopping, Luna turned to face him.

«Well...Here you are.» he said, looking at the building. He leaned down and gave her a light kiss. «Dors bien, mon amour.~» he added and started to turn around, starting to walk off.

Luna grabbed the hoodie and held him back. «And i thought i was going to show you how “adorable” i can be...Hmm?»

Gladion turned to look at her, rather confused before a blush slowly appeared on his cheeks. «What…?» he muttered.

«Oh i guess it’s to much...It’s alright if you don’t want to.~» she added, the tone in her voice being very seductive.

«Don’t say that…» he murmured back, fully turning around and moved up close to her, placing his hands on her hips. «I’m very much interested...» he added.

She giggled softly and ran her index finger down his chest. «You sure about that?~»

He smirked and chuckled softly. «Didn’t know Kalosians were this subtle.»

«You haven’t been in Kalos long enough then.~» she replied, looking up and meeting his eyes with a soft smirk.

The tone in her voice and the look in her eyes gave him goosebumps, the hair back on his neck standing. She took his hand in hers and started to drag him with her, walking inside to the lobby and over to the elevator, quickly getting in and pushing the button for her floor. Gladion spared no time when the doors closed on pinning her to the wall and hungerly locking their lips. The horrid elevator music didn’t help on the mood either, but they kept being persistent, ignoring it.


	35. Burning the Night

The ride up to the floor where her room was seemed shorter than usual for her, and were looking quite surprised at the door when it opened. They had stopped making out as the elevator stopped, and looked at it as it opened, exchanging looks. As their eyes met, she gave him a soft smile and he moved away from her a little, letting her straighten herself up. She took his hand and and guided him with her down the corridor, occasionally looking back at him as they approached her room. Getting to the door of her room, she opened it up and they both walked inside. She quickly let go of his hand and put the bag down onto the floor, putting her fedora on the small shoe stand beside the door and kicked off her shoes out of habit. Gladion closed the door as silently as possible while eyeing her down, locking the door while he was at it. Seeing that she had taken off her shoes, doing the same before he walked up behind her, placing his hands on her hips and pulled her close and leaned down, placing his lips on her neck, gently placing kisses on her. Luna placed her hands on top of his, tilting her head as he planted kisses on her neck. He slowly moved his hands to the buttons on her front, undoing them one by one, moving up to her chest, undoing the tie she were wearing with the blouse, letting it drop to the floor before he continued to unbutton it all up. The clothing were still covering her, but he didn’t want to go to fast forward, wanting to enjoy her to the fullest. Her breathing were slow and heavy, yet very calm.

Removing the collar, letting the blouse slide down from her shoulder, he moved down on her neck, brushing his lips across her skin to her shoulder, nibbling softly, his hot breath sesually tickling her skin. Luna had slowly slid her hands off his, moving them down to his hips, her hands slowly going down to the side his thighs. Gladion moved his hands to her waist, pushing the blouse away as he started to feel her up again, his fingers gently tracing a line up to her chest, gently cupping her breasts. She let out a light huff as he started to gently squeeze, making him smirk softly, giving her another light nibble. Feeling that it was taking to long, he moved one hand down to her thigh, sliding it under her skirt and up to her hip, revealing half of her rear as he took a firm grip on her, pulling her as close as possible, her rear pressing against his crotch. Feeling the bulge behind her, she gained a deep blush, her breath starting to get irregular, but not enough for him to notice. His mind got blank for a second, which was something she noticed and took the opportunity to turn around, facing him. Luna placed her hands on his hips as he leaned down, locking their lips. Gladion moved his hands to her rear, sliding them quickly up under her skirt and groping her rather roughly. Tongues wrestling against each other, light gasps taken as they adjusted and Luna sliding her hands down to his crotch, unbuttoning it and slipping her hands in under the cloth, gently rubbing her hand against his manhood. A soft gasp escaped him, making her lightly smirk while their tongues were playing with each other roughly. Breaking from the heavy kissing, she licked her lips before looking up at him with a rather seductive look in her eyes. While she were caressing his member, he took the opportunity to get his hoodie and shirt off, unconsciously thinking that she didn’t want to be half naked by herself.  Removing her hand from his crotch, she didn’t hesitate to get down on him, sitting on her knees. She lightly tugged on his jeans and boxers, pulling them down, revealing his aroused member. Gladion could feel the heat rise from his neck to his face, his cheeks getting incredibly red from the sight of her, sitting down in front of him.

She didn’t hesitate to start working on him, gently running her tongue up his length, lips softly brushing against it along the way. Gladion let out a soft huff, followed by a soft groan when she wrapped her lips around him, feeling the warmth enveloping him. On pure instinct, Luna closed her eyes and gently started to move her head, her hands placed on his thighs for support. Gladion placed his hand on top of her head, running his fingers through her hair as he started to move his hips slightly out of instinct, his breath being heavy and slowly getting irregular. The feeling of her lips gently wrapped around him, and her tongue lightly touching this member with each movement she made on him, moving it around a few times to caress a different place each time, feeling his member pulse slightly. Luna eventually leaned back, letting go of his member while catching her breath slightly. Gladion let out a light, silent huff, letting go of her head before looking down at her again. He took a firm grip on her shoulders and pulled her up, which made her lightly yelp. Their eyes met for a brief second before he locked their lips, giving her a soft, passionate kiss before parting, eyes meeting again.

He smirked at her. «You about done?» he murmured to her.

«Debatable…~» she replied.

«Nothing to debate.» he added in a husky voice.

He gave her a soft kiss before tracing his lips down to her neck, his hands gently going down her shoulders, pulling the blouse down her arms as he kept going down, making it fall off onto the floor. He didn’t stop there, as once he was around her hips, he started to undo her skirt, pulling the zipper down, and dragging it down enough for it to fall down on it’s own. While doing so, he had moved forward, making her back up towards the wall. Moving his hands back up to her chest, he started to undo her bra, failing immensely. Luna held in her giggles to the best of her ability.

«Tch...Fuck this thing...» he lightly hissed and took a grip of the undergarment.

With a quick movement, making sure that he didn’t hurt her, he pulled it up and over her head, taking her by surprise as she just looked dumbfounded. On instinct, she covered herself up right away, looking quite timid at his chest, being beet red. The timidness of hers were new, and frankly, quite adorable when he looked at her, smiling softly. He gently grabbed her wrists, pulling her arms away from her chest and pinned them to the wall beside her.

He leaned in close to her ear. «Don’t cover yourself...» he murmured.

«...I...I-i’m...» she stuttered softly.

She got cut off by him going down to her neck, making her let out a soft gasp. He started to plant kisses on her as he worked his way down to her collarbone, keeping her arms pinned up as he got down to her cleavage, lightly running his tongue on her skin, feeling her chest rise and descend with each breath she took, her breathing gradually getting heavier the more he moved down. He slowly moved toward her left nipple, wrapping his lips around it, tugging gently with his teeth and letting his tongue circle it gently. Luna let out a soft, gasp like moan, slightly arching her back in an attempt to be closer to him, her breathing immediately shifting, getting heavier. Noticing a slight twitch from her, he let go and moved to her right, playing a little more with her. Luna were slightly moaning, trying her best to keep them low and as silent as possible, trying to mutter his name. Hearing her trying to call for him gave him the shivers, feeling it run down his spine and making his member slightly twitch with excitement. He stopped and licked his lips, moving up to her again and leaned in close, their foreheads touching as he let go of her wrists. Pulling her arms towards her, she looked up at him, meeting his emerald green eyes. She didn’t cover herself up again, but placed her hands gently on his neck, tilting her head as she gently pulled him down to her, giving him a soft, tender kiss. Gladion made short work of it as he placed his hands on her hips for a brief second, only to bend down slightly and pick her up, carrying her over to the bed that was a few feet away from them. Once over the bed, he put her down onto it.

As she were laying on the bed, she slightly sat up as he took a grip of the last pieces of clothing she had on her, pulling it down and off, tossing it onto the floor. As she got completely nude, he started to drag the rest of his clothes off, and as he did that, she leaned over to the nightstand, remembering that there was some protection laying around in one of them. She found it, and turned back over, looking up at him while holding the small package between her fingers, slightly covering her lips with it. He looked over at her, a smirk slowly growing as he started to crawl over to her and over her. He took the package on hand, hovering over her for a slight second before he started to feel her down, starting on her chest, slowly going down her torso to her stomach and lower abdomen. He got to her womanhood and slipped his hand in between her legs, gently rubbing, slipping a finger in between her folds. She let out a soft, silent moan as he did. He got rather surprised on how wet she were feeling, and couldn’t help to feel his cheeks heat up.

He looked at her, smirking. «Been ready for a while?» he murmured.

Luna puffed her cheeks in embarrassment. «Tais-toi...» she muttered with a slight pout on her face.

He silently chuckled as he leaned down, giving her a soft kiss before sitting back up, opening up the pack and getting the protection on. Luna were looking to the side, her cheeks as red as they could get. He got between her legs and leaned down to her, sharing a few kisses before he guided himself into her, letting out a soft huff by the feeling of her wrapped around him. Gladion started to move his hips, slowly and steadily thrusting into her, his hands firmly planted beside her on the bed. As soon as he started to move, she placed her hands on his arms, having a firm grip on him as soft, silent moans were escaping her lips. He kept the steady pace, listening to her ragged breath and soft moans, it being music to his ears, giving him goosebumps down his back. Leaning more down to her, he locked their lips, slipping his tongue in between to search for hers, claiming his territory. While their lips were busy with each other, Luna wrapped her arms around his shoulders, slightly digging her fingers into his back. Gladion reached for her leg, pulling it up more towards his waist, giving him some more room as he quickened the pace, thrusting more roughly into her, making her move more violently under him. Breaking the make out, Luna let out a soft moan, shutting her eyes tightly while digging her nails into his back as he hit a sweet spot in her, pressing her legs more tightly around his hips. Gladion let out a soft groan, getting more turned on by the slight pain he felt, as well as her tightening the “grip” around him. Letting go of her leg, he placed his hand beside her hip, feeling that her inner walls had started to spasm around him, getting tighter each time he thrusted into her. Her moans were starting to get more frequent, starting to arch her back up towards him, as well as digging her nails more into his back, scratching him up.

Keeping the pace steady, her inner walls spasming around his length, he could feel himself getting real close to his end of the run. As quickly as the sensation started to go through him, Luna arched her back up towards him, digging her nails deeply into his back. She muttered his name between a few moans, her inner walls tightening around him, shutting her eyes tightly as she reached the end of her run, shivering from the intense feeling of pleasure going through her body. Gladion slowed the pace, dragging it out for them both for a few more seconds before he let out a soft groan, the tightness around him ending up being to much. His muscles tensed up as he reached his end of the run, shivering slightly from the intense feeling running through his body, pulsing down his spine as he looked down at her. Heavy breaths were taken, them both trying to collect and calm themselves as quickly as possible. He leaned down, slightly putting his weight on her as he put his forehead against hers, having their eyes closed for a few seconds before opening them, meeting each other's gaze. She moved her hands from his back, gently putting them on his cheeks, caressing him softly with her thumb while giving him a soft, sweet smile. Gladion smiled softly back to her, letting out a soft, content sigh before he gave her a tender kiss, moving his arms under her. Luna were slowly relaxing her legs, feeling him down his calves with her toes, taking in whatever she could of the moment unconsciously. The very intimate moment were interrupted by some of the fireworks from Ula’ula, as it was apparently been quiet for a while without the two noticing.

Looking out of the window, seeing the a few colors in the sky, they both exchanged a rather confused look. Luna then giggled softly, breaking the silence between the two. He just smiled sheepishly, not sure what she was giggling about, as he nuzzled into her neck, giving her a love bite which made her yelp.

«Gladion!» she yelped at him.

He chuckled. «What?»

«Don’t bite me..!»

«But your yelps are really cute.~» he murmured, giving her another one.

«Aaah! Gladion!» she yelped again.

He chuckled and removed his arms from beneath her, resting his weight on his elbows while being on top of her. He took her hands in his, and pulled them away from his face, placing them beside her head, only for him to slide them above her head. Luna sighed softly, which made him chuckle. After some light bantering and calming down some more, he pulled out of her and got the rubber off, tying a knot on it before getting off the bed and tossing it into the bin nearby. As he was off the bed, Luna got under the cover, sitting up and running her fingers through her hair. Gladion sat down on the edge of the bed, looking over at her. The sheet were just above her chest, gently shaping itself around her figure, making him just stare at her. Luna moved her hair to her back again and looked over at him, catching him staring.

«Quoi?» she muttered softly.

«Ce n’est rien.» he replied softly.

«You ain’t leaving, non?» she asked, tilting her head.

He shaked his head lightly. «No.» he replied, getting over to the other side of the bed and under the covers. «I’m not done looking.» he added, smirking at her as he leaned closer to her.

«Oh you...» she muttered softly, shaking her head.

She were about to say something, but got interrupted by him wrapping his arms around her waist and pulled her down with him onto the bed, giving her a light peck on her shoulder before nuzzling. She yelped in surprise, it turning into a soft giggle. Their attention turned outside of the window again, watching the sky getting lit up with different colors for a while longer, at least until she moved, wanting to get more comfortable in the bed. She turned to face him, Gladion putting his arm under the pillow for comfort as she laid down again, using his arm as her pillow, her arm laying across his torso. He gave her another light peck on her forehead as he grabbed the cover, pulling it up over them some more. She closed her eye after getting used to the sound of fireworks in the distance, quickly drifting off to sleep. Gladion kept looking outside for a few more minutes, exchanging looks between the night sky and her. For every look he gave her, the more his heart fluttered, finding himself falling for her all over again. He let out a soft, content sigh as he closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep while the fireworks from Ula’ula Island were still illuminating the sky for probably a few more hours.


	36. Business Persona

Luna woke up by some Wingulls screeching loudly outside on the balcony to her room. She opened her eyes and looked out of the windows on the door, seeing the pokemon sitting on the railings, screeching. She blinked a couple of times, letting out a soft sigh as she stretched slightly, pulling the cover more over her. She kept looking outside, watching the pokemon until it flew off, continuing with its screeching elsewhere. As it flew, she turned to look over her shoulder, seeing Gladion laying there, still fast asleep. Slowly turning around, making sure that she didn’t make to much movement to wake him up, she scooted closer. She studied him, listening to his calm breathing before he gently starting to run her fingers across his cheek and jawline, tracing it lightly. As she did, he woke up, but kept his eyes closed, letting her do it as it felt quite nice. She didn’t notice that he were awake until a soft smile started to grow on his lips, making her smile softly at the sight.

«Bonjour.~» she said lightly, continuing to run her fingers softly across his jawline.

«Bonjour.» he replied in a husky voice.

«Did i wake you up?» she asked, resting her hand on his cheek.

«No.» he said, getting his arm out from under the cover and on top, placing it around her waist. «Rather pleasant to wake up like this.» he added, murmuring.

She let out a soft giggle, getting interrupted by him placing a soft kiss on her lips. She quickly returned the kiss, it ending up with several more as he wrapped his arm more around her, pulling her closer. Sharing a few soft kisses, they got interrupted by his phone starting to vibrate on the floor. They quickly parted and Gladion looked over his shoulder and onto the floor, not seeing his pants from his viewpoint. With a small pout, being slightly irritated that he got interrupted, his phone eventually stopped after a few seconds, and he sighed softly, getting his attention back to Luna. He looked down at her collarbone, his eyes slowly finding their way down to her cleavage before he forced his eyes up, meeting her gaze and soft smirk. Knowing that he had been caught in the most obvious way possible, he just sheepishly smiled back at her. She chuckled softly, making him even more embarrassed of what he just did. Luna scooted as close as possible, burying her face in his chest as Gladion rested his chin on top of her head, sliding his arm under the cover again, keeping his arm around her while gently tracing circles on her back.

_ Her skin is so soft… _

He closed his eyes for a brief second before he looked down, his eyes landing on her shoulder. It was hard to see, but it seemed like there was something there, though, it was very faint. He narrowed his eyes in order to try and see more of it without any luck. Since he didn’t get a good look, he figured that his mind were playing tricks with him. It was incredibly comfortable to just lay there, listening to the Wingulls and Pikipeks chirping and crying in the distance, to the point that they had almost fallen asleep again. As they were close to fully drift off again, Gladion’s phone started to make a ruckus again, being as loud as it could be. He growled to himself, sighing as he let go of her and scooted away and down the bed, sitting on the edge as he reached for his pants, finding the phone in the pocket, only for his phone to get silent. Luna slightly sat up, looking over at him and pulling some of her bangs behind her ear. Gladion weren’t too happy to look at his phone, only to see that Lillie had sent several messages, called him once and a few other messages from Wicke, as well as a call from her.

«Important call?» she asked, tilting her head a little.

«Most likely.» he muttered. «I have to call them back up, just to make sure it’s not.» he said, followed by a sigh.

«Bien sûr.» she replied softly, sitting up in the bed, the covers loosely covering her front.

Gladion sighed and dialed Wicke up again, not wanting to talk to Lillie, already knowing that she would, most likely, scream into her phone and ask him where he was. Wicke quickly took the phone and sounded as cheerful as usual. Gladion then asked why he was called, and if she knew why Lillie had sent him hundreds of messages. Wicke giggled on the other side, telling him that it was just to make sure that he was alright and not laying dead in a ditch somewhere, which was something Luna heard, snorting lightly.

Gladion looked over his shoulder at her, glaring unimpressed at the Kalosian behind him. «Right...Let her know that i’m not dead in a ditch at least.»

«Will do, master Gladion.» Wicke replied sweetly. «Oh, also...When are you back at Aether? Your mother were also asking since she had some documents she wanted you to go over.» she added.

«In an hour or two?» he replied, sounding rather timid in his reply.

She caught the timid reply and smiled sweetly. «Alright. I’ll let your mother know that you’ll be here in around three hours.» she said before saying goodbye and hanging up.

He sighed and hung his head slightly, placing the phone beside him on the bed, placing both of his hands on his face, rubbing slightly. Luna tilted her head while looking over at him. «Need to leave already?» she asked.

He shaked his head. «No. If it was, i would have heard my mother in the background.» he replied.

Luna nodded and hummed softly, watching him sit back a little more, letting out another sigh. She crawled over to him, the covers falling off her. Being behind him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her chest pressed against his back and their cheeks touching. «Why sighing so loudly then? No need to rush.~» she said softly, her breath lightly tickling his ear. Her hands slowly started to find their way down his chest.

«No rush indeed.» he murmured, smirking slightly to her.

* * *

Gladion arrived at the Aether dock and got off the ferry, walking towards the triangle shaped elevator, waiting for it to arrive. After he left Luna to herself at Hano, he again noticed something out of the corner of his eyes on her shoulder. He, again, didn’t get a good look at it, but it was strangely familiar to him. Rubbing his chest, thinking and trying to figure out if it could be the same type of marking that he had on him. Standing there, looking rather scary as his frown deepened, getting lost in thought. He flinched when the elevator came down in front of him, looking at the white triangle with big eyes for a few seconds before he shaked his head, walking onto it. He pushed the button for the entrance area, thinking that he would be able to get home first to change his clothes, and get hopefully get himself a quick shower before heading to the main office. On the way up on the elevator, he lightly rubbed his chest again.

_ Could that be...the same as mine?... _

Looking up, thinking if she saw his before he left, wondering if she were thinking the same thing, or didn’t just didn’t notice it the way he did. Sighing and shaking his head, he figured it was a lost cause, as she might not even have a marking on her. He didn’t even fully believe on the soulmate stuff that Lillie did tell him months ago, but the fact that he had one made it all a little too real. Luna were going to arrive at Aether a little later, just keeping him company while working, unless he were done with whatever that needed to be done before the evening. The elevator stopped and he walked off, heading to the back of the place. There was a few employees around the entrance area, and they were chattering among themselves about him and why he was arriving at Aether this late in the day, as well as saying that it most likely had something to do with his new girlfriend, the Kalosian champion. Gladion heard it and ignored it, since it was mostly true. Luna were a big part of him being late and not being back at Aether the previous evening. While thinking about it, he blushed, as well as a slight smirk appeared. On the way over to the mansion, Wicke appeared behind him, calling for him. He stopped and looked over his shoulder, seeing her stand there with a sweet smile on her lips.

«Welcome back, master Gladion. Did you just arrive?» she asked, tilting her head slightly.

«Yeah...I’m just thinking of changing clothes before going to the office...» he muttered, the blush on his cheeks getting deeper.

«Of course. Your mother is in the main office with your sister, and it’s pretty urgent as far i have heard.» she said, and nodded to him.

«Right...» he muttered, seeing her bow and then starting to walk off, heading in the direction of the reception.

Knowing that Lillie were in the main office with Lusamine made it a little more serious than he initially thought it would be, and decided to hurry home, take a quick shower, probably the quickest in Alola, and get on some clean clothes before hurrying over to the office, listening from the other side of the door that Lusamine were snarling and growling, while Lillie were trying to tell the older woman to calm down, and that they couldn’t do much about it. Not knowing what they were talking about made him quite curious, and opened the door, walking in. The two looked over at him, looking quite surprised at his arrival.

«What?» he lighty hissed at them as he closed the door behind him.

«Oh...Umm...» Lillie muttered, giving Lusamine a quick glance, seeing that she literally just facedesked, groaning. «Kanto and Jotho decided to pull out of the expansion project, finding it to risky.» she said, looking at her older brother, almost a little terrified.

«Really? How come?» he asked, placing himself next to her, crossing his arms while exchanging looks between her and their mother.

«They found it to dangerous and invasive for the region...Wanting to see how it does in the other regions before they will join...» Lusamine groaned, sitting back up in her chair.

«Right...Is that’s just a good thing then? Two regions less to work with, and more potential to get it better at whatever region we start the expansion in. It should make it easier to find a region that’s willing to continue with it now.» he said calmly, looking unfaced.

Lusamine hummed softly. «True...» she muttered, a pout forming on her face.

«...You actually planned it to start in Kanto and Johto, right?» Gladion asked as he saw the pout forming on their mother. Lillie’s eyes grew big while looking over at their mother, who were pouting like a child.

«Maybe...» she muttered, averting her gaze from the two.

Gladion sighed and shaked his head, while Lillie lost her jaw in disbelief. «Mom...What?» Lillie muttered.

«I just have to find a new region to work with now that Kanto and Johto i out of the picture. They won’t even get back to Alola, finding it unnecessary to attend the rest of the few meetings.» she said, trying to put on her business persona again.

Gladion looked down at the floor, thinking that he might be able to persuade her to start with Kalos. He kept it as a thought, knowing that Lusamine would shut it down since Luna, the Kalosian champion, were his girlfriend, making the decision quite biased on personal preferences. He did at least say something along those lines of it being easier to find a new region to work with, as well as focusing on the pokemon were the first priority of the expansion of Aether in the first place. Lillie noticed that he were thinking rather hard, but didn’t disturb him, knowing it would be something about Kalos, seeing how his expression slightly softened, she were at least feeling very proud that he and their mother didn’t snap at each other, which was a normal occurrence whenever they were in the same room. She gained a soft smile, quickly looking over at their mother, who were still pouting. There was a knock on the door after a few minutes, and Wicke walked in, followed by Faba who weren’t look as pleased as usual. Wicke had gotten a mail from Lance, the mentor for Gold, the champion of the Indigo League. Lusamine quickly got onto the computer, finding it and opening the mail, quickly reading through it. She growled even more while Faba found hi way behind her, reading the mail himself.

«What a disappointment that Kanto and Johto is out of the project.» he said with a snobby tone in his voice, looking over at the two siblings. Lillie looked rather confused, while Gladion just sent the old guy a glare. Faba just looked away from him, still keeping his nose high.

Lusamine then told them all that she wanted to be alone, rethink her strategy and figure out what region she could start with now, ruling out anything that will make it harder to start anywhere, as well as getting the champions and the former champions on the same path as her. Wicke stayed behind while Faba walked off, following after Lillie and Gladion out to the hallway. Even he noticed a rather calm energy around the young man in front of him, which was rather strange, making him stare intensely at the blonde. Gladion had noticed at he were staring at him, and didn’t want to turn around to catch him doing so, though, it was quite irritating while walking out to the elevator. Faba turned the corner, walking off to a different section of the office floor, while Lillie and Gladion got on the elevator, taking it up to the conservation area.

Standing on the elevator, Lillie looked at him and smiled softly. «How did you do that?» she asked.

Gladion hummed and looked at her in confusion. «Do what?»

«I know that you and mother don’t have the best...communication skills...but you were so calm. It’s really unusual when it comes to you and mom.» she said, her smile slowly getting wider.

«I didn’t do anything…? Just stated what was on my mind...» he muttered, putting his hands in his pockets.

Lillie smiled widely and nodded, humming softly. «If you say so.~» she said, followed by a soft giggle.

_ I’m sure Luna had some impact on you, brother...in a way you don’t notice... _


	37. Snarky Faba

Luna were laying around in the bed a little more after Gladion left, just looking around the room and up at the ceiling. With a soft sigh she sat up again, getting the covers off and getting up from the bed. She stretched while walking away from the bed and into the bathroom, getting into the shower. While she were in the shower, the Alolan Vulpix of hers jumped out of its pokeball, shaking its body before sitting down, scratching itself behind its ear and looked around, hearing Luna hum softly while showering. It got up on its feet and stretched itself as it jumped down from the table and onto the floor, wandering around a little. Despite the door to the balcony being slightly open, the air were rather smelling weird, making it wrinkle its nose slightly, finding its way to the door and pushing it more open, getting outside. Luna finished her shower and wrapped a towel around her while walking out to her room, seeing the door to the balcony more open, she slightly started to panic, only to see the pokemon laying in the chair, looking comfortable.

«Neige...» she muttered softly, letting out a soft sigh as she placed her hand over her heart.

She kept the pokemon in her line of sight as she found new clothes to get on. She found a pair of black capri jeans that she bought in Hau’oli City with Lillie, pairing it up with her orange excotic top from Kalos. As she were fully dressed, she quickly combed her hair and put it up on a ponytail, starting to tidying the room a little. While cleaning up, she looked at herself in the mirror, seeing the many hickies around her neck and collarbone, as well as a few bite marks. She blushed as she traced them with her fingers, muttering softly to herself that she should try and hide them somehow, finding them way to visible for her liking. Tossing the bundle of clothes into her bag she had gathered up from the floor, she hurried into the bathroom and dug through her toiletries to find her foundation, starting to cover them up as good as possible. Seeing that they would still show up on her skin after covering them, she stopped, putting the foundation away.

_ Can’t cover them up more...if i do, my skin will look patched and weird… _

She sighed, walking out to her room and found her red parka jacket. At least the jacket would cover most of them on her shoulders, and hopefully hide the ones on her collarbone to an extent. The Vulpix gave a light cry, getting her attention. She looked over at it, and smiled softly, grabbing her bag.

«You would have had the worst sleep yesterday if you were out of your pokeball...» she muttered to it. «I hope you didn’t mind.» The pokemon just huffed slightly at her, keeping its attention on her.

She got on her shoes and found her phone, taking a quick look at it, seeing the few messages she had gotten while being asleep and  _ busy _ . There was a few messages from her parents, which wasn’t really worth replying to, and a few from Diantha, saying that the Elite four were missing her and that they wished that the meetings in Alola were soon done and over with. Luna chuckled softly, replying to her that it was flattering to know that they missed her, as well as a message from her saying that she would be on her way back to Alola soon. She finished replying and put her phone into her bag again, calling for her pokemon as she wanted to leave, getting something to eat and look around Heahea city a little before heading over to Aether, knowing that he were waiting for her to arrive at some point. As she were to walk out, she noticed an unfamiliar phone laying around. She picked it up and opened it up to look at the screen, and a smile grew from what the background image was of. It was Gladion’s phone, and he had the selfie that she took of them at the beach some time ago, when it became official for his sister and friends. She looked at the pokemon a little before she looked at the phone again, smirking softly.

* * *

At Aether, Gladion had been looking through a few documents and handed them to Wicke before getting up to the conservation area, just wandering around aimlessly. Lillie had left for Melemele Island, having plans on getting in some studies with Kukui, and hanging around Hau and Sol later in Hau’oli City, going to watch the two train their pokemon while they had the time off from their daily duties. As he were wandering around, Faba could be heard in the distance, as he had arrived at the floor for some reason. He was muttering to himself as usual, bad mouthing him and Lillie, as well as Lusamine on a few occasions, but mostly him, being the heir to the CEO chair. It was quite infuriating to hear, knowing that the older guy did whatever he wanted anyway, and would change his opinion to fit his needs whenever needed.

_ If he keeps on going like this...he’ll be the first to go when i take over… _

Growling to himself, Gladion turned the corner and walked away from him, not wanting to hear or see him. As he did, he put his hands in the pockets of his pants, noticing that his phone were not in either of them. Slightly panicking, he patted his pockets on his pants and hoodie a few times, letting out a soft sigh.

«Fuck...» he hissed to himself, thinking that he forgot it at home after he changed his outfit.

Putting his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, he continued to wander around, looking and observing the pokemon around the area, ending up in a corner and looking at some of the water pokemon that were enjoying themselves in the artificial river and pond. Losing track of time while watching the pokemon come and go around the pond, listening to the elevator in the distance arrive and leave, he didn’t notice that Luna had gotten up to the floor with the help of Wicke. She were walking around, and after a few minutes of thinking that she were lost, she found him in the distance and walked over to him, poking him lightly to get his attention, seeing that he were lost in his own thoughts. Feeling the poke on his arm, he looked in the direction where it came from, ending up looking straight at her.

She smiled softly, waving lightly to him. «Bonjour.~» she said gently.

Gladion looked around in confusion a little before he looked at her again, being even more confused. «When did you get here?»

Luna giggled softly. «A few minutes ago. Wicke helped me to get up to the conservation area, but...» she said and paused, looking around.

«But...?» he parroted.

«I keep getting lost around here...» she finished, followed by a sheepish laugh.

«You could have called or texted me...» he added, to which she smiled and dug up his phone from her bag, waving it in front of his face. Gladion looked at his phone with big eyes, only to look quite unimpressed in a few seconds. «Right...Already got a Goldeen memory...» he muttered. Luna giggled as he took it and put it into his pocket, a light rosy color appearing his cheeks.

«You did get a few messages as i got here, so ain’t you going to check them out?» she asked as he put it away.

«No, as if they were important, it would have read a few missed calls instead.» he replied, turning around and started to lean against the railing.

Luna hummed softly and nodded. «Oui oui...» she replied. «How’s your day been so far?»

«Uneventful.» he flatly replied to her as he reached for her hip, taking a firm grip and pulled her towards him. «...For the time being at least.» he added as his expression softened.

Luna smiled and timidly looked away and down at his chest, her fingers  _ walking _ up on him, listening to her soft voice as she were saying something that he didn’t catch when Faba interrupted them, scoffing. The two looked over at him, Gladion regaining his usual frown while Luna looked like a Deerling caught in headlights.

«How  _ cute _ ...» he said snarky. «I do hope you have time to  _ look _ at the new documents if you have time to  _ ogle _ on the Kalosian Champion.»

«What do you want, Faba...» he hissed at him.

«Ugh...Like i said, and i don’t like to repeat myself. New documents are waiting, young Master.» he replied, still sounding very snarky.

«Should i leave…?» Luna muttered, looking at him. «Did i arrive at the worst time possible...?»

Gladion shaked his head. «No, you didn’t. Faba’s just being...» he started, giving the older man a dirty look. «...being informative, as usual...» he added, hissing it. «Besides...you can keep me company.»

Faba had a smug look on his face, but it quickly faded when he heard that the Kalosian champion were going to stay around more, keeping the young man company. Lusamine had told him that she wasn’t too fond of Gladion being in a relationship with a girl from a different region, which was something Faba found reasonable and had decided, for himself, that he would be making sure to interrupt them whenever he could, making the little time they had left together as annoying and irritating as possible.

«I do wonder what you see in this boy...He’s not suited for someone like you, young champion.» he said, taking them both off guard.

«Quoi…?» she muttered softly. Gladion caught his scheme, his frown getting more prominent on his features, already knowing that Lusamine had had the  _ talk _ with him about it.

«Faba...» he hissed harshly at him.

Faba looked at him with a smug expression. «What? She’s going to leave in about a month or two as well...how are you planning to keep it going? Hmm?» he asked, still looking and sounding very smug about it.

Gladion scoffed at him. «I’ll make it work.» he hissed. Luna had gotten lost in her thoughts, thinking about it as it was something she didn’t take into her consideration.

«I would like to see that.» Faba hissed back at him. «Anyway...Documents. In the office. Needs to be done. By tomorrow.» he added, turning and walking off.

Gladion growled to himself and looked down at her, seeing that she were looking rather worried. «Don’t take whatever he said to heart. He’s always been like that.» he told her.

«Like what…?» she muttered softly to him.

«After to make my life miserable in whatever way possible.» he replied. He sighed and shaked his head. «Come on...Don’t really want to stay around here for any longer...or else he’ll come back.» he added and got off the railing. Luna hummed and nodded softly, walking with him over to the elevator.

Getting onto the elevator were rather awkward and silent, as well as the ride down to the office floor. Luna were thinking about it, how it should work out as she were very busy with the league and other few things around in Kalos, so how would she be able to keep him happy. Gladion didn’t like the silence coming from her, at least not this kind of silence. The elevator stopped and they got off, Luna following Gladion closely over to the office where the documents would be laying around. Getting into the office, Luna got a determined look on her face, watching Gladion pass her and over to the desk after closing the door and walking over to the desk, taking a look at what the documents were about. As they were in the office, they could hear Faba again in the hallway, talking to someone, most likely an employee, about how he didn’t understand what the Kalosian champion saw in Gladion, and that it had to be luck that she got the champion title, finding it upsetting that Diantha lost to a  _ brat _ like her. Gladion started to fume at what he heard, taking a few slow breaths in order to calm himself down. Luna rolled her eyes, as she didn’t care if he thought that she were just lucky or not.

_ I’ll just be that brat then... _

Luna were about to say something when Gladion interrupted her. «I didn’t lie when i said i’ll make it work...» he said, keeping his eyes down, not wanting to see what she was thinking.

«You’re in luck then.» she said in a cheerful voice, walking over to him. He didn’t get why she were sounding so cheerfully and turned, standing face to face with her. She poked his nose, getting his full attention. «I’m rather hard to get rid off.» she added, giving him a playful wink.

«Uuh...Right…?» he muttered, not sure what to reply to her.

She chuckled softly. «We’ll make it work, oui?» she said, smiling sweetly to him.

The surprise on his face quickly faded into a soft smile, then a smirk started to grow as he reached for her chin. «No question about it.» he murmured, lifting her chin up while tracing her lips with his thumb.

«Oui oui, monsieur.~» she murmured softly back.

He removed his thumb and leaned down, placing a soft, tender kiss on her lips. After it, she muttered that he did have some work to do, and that it probably would be better if she left, leaving him to it and not distracting him. He didn’t deny it, giving her another tender kiss. They shared a few more kisses before she left, leaving him to work in peace.


	38. Pictures

After Luna had left, Gladion got going on the documents, going through them as usual. As he were doing that, and Luna being on the ferry over to Akala, Lillie just got landed on Aether with the help of Sol, taking the Charizard ride over. The blonde girl wasn’t too fond of heights, and kept her eyes closed most of the trip over from Melemele to the VLSF. Feeling the ground under her feet again, she let out a soft sigh of relief. Sol, who were sitting on the pokemon, were still chuckling softly, asking if she were alright. Lillie nodded and smiled softly to him, saying that she was and that it will take more than a flight like that to break her, making a determined pose.

Sol gave her a thumbs up, grinning widely. «Later then Lillie, Kukui had a few things he wanted to discuss regarding the league.»

«Alright. Take care, Sol.~» she said cheerfully, watching him fly off again on the pokemon. Getting to the railings, she inhaled deeply, looking out at the horizon a little before looking down, seeing the ferry leave the VLFS. Looking at the ferry, she noticed that Luna were standing outside a little before heading inside.

Knowing that Gladion had been away the whole night made her incredibly curious, deciding to look for him and see what he was doing, or even doing anything. Since Luna had just left, she figured that he were most likely at home or at the office. Not wanting to look too much for him, she started at the office area, hurrying over to the elevator and taking it up to the designated floor. As she got up to the office floor, she could hear Faba in the distance, mutter stuff about Luna.

«A pretty girl like that is clearly delusional...Going into a relationship with the kid, fully knowing that it will be a long distance one. Ridiculous.» he hissed to himself.

Lillie stood around, just listening to whatever he were saying, not liking a word that came out of him. He didn’t notice her and kept on going as he walked off, presumably heading to a different office to complain to some of the employees. Lillie wasn’t impressed, already knowing that Faba had been on his throat since day one. Not wanting to stand around any longer, she walked in the different direction, heading over to the regular office where Gladion would be sitting with whatever of paperwork that Faba had dumped on him, or a few things Wicke wanted his opinion on. Getting to the office, she didn’t bother to knock and just opened the door and walked in, making him flinch in the chair as he looked up at her.

«Lillie...what the fuck...?» he hissed to her.

«Oh, sorry!» she said and closed the door behind her. «I saw Luna on the ferry that were leaving Aether.» she said.

«She just returned my phone that i forgot earlier...» he replied, looking down at the documents again.

«Ooh...You spent the night with her?~» she asked in a teasingly tone to him.

Gladion just gave her a quick look before looking down again at the documents. «Yeah…?»

She got wide eyed and a deep red blush appeared on her face. «Oh...Okay...» she muttered, her mind going to suggestive places. «Anyway...I heard Faba in the hallway...» she added.

«I’m fully aware that he doesn't like her, and i couldn’t care less.» Gladion flatly told her.

«That’s good...I just don’t like the way he talks about her...It’s so...diminishing...» she said and walked over to the desk. «Ain’t you going to tell him to stop?»

«If that only worked that is.»

«Right...» she muttered, looking at the documents at the desk. «You ain’t going to break up with her before she leaves, right?»

«No. What makes you say that?» he asked, looking up at his sister, seeing her worried expression.

«It will...become a long distance relationship...» she replied softly.

«We’ll make it work...and thanks for reminding me that she’ll be leaving in a month or two.» he said rather flatly.

«Sorry...Good to know that you don’t have any intentions of letting her go.» she said. Gladion just shaked his head, getting a deep red blush across his cheeks, averting his gaze to the windows.

* * *

As Luna got back to Akala Island, she got over to the nearby boutique, looking around to see if she found a pair of shorts, not wanting to walk around anymore in long jeans or in a skirt, feeling that they would be overused. While walking over, she got a call from Diantha, telling her that she were on her way back to Alola, and would be there around early next morning.

«How’s the league? And professor Sycamore?» she asked.

«The league is doing fine. Since you are not around to take on any challengers, the elite four have taken vacation themselves, doing other things with their family and loved ones. And professor Sycamore is doing fine, doing his usual research about the mega evolutions.» she said, followed by a soft chuckle.

Luna let out a nervous laugh, as she knew how he was with his research, and that Diantha would try and get with him, which never worked. «Just the professor being himself as usual...» she muttered.

Diantha sighed softly. «He indeed is...Anyway...» she started, pausing for a few seconds. «A little Fletchling told me that you, my dead champion, got yourself a boyfriend?» she added, sounding quite excited by the fact.

Luna almost dropped her phone, freezing on the spot. Diantha could hear the silence and giggled. «W-what…?» she managed to mutter softly.

«Don’t be shy about it, honey. I’m happy for you.» she said with a giggle. «Is he good looking? Someone i have seen or met already?»

Diantha kept on asking all sorts of questions, doing her best to pry anything out of her while Luna just got more and more flustered. She eventually made up a bad excuse and quickly hung up on the phone, putting it back into her bag. The clerk in the boutique had noticed her just standing there, and had walked over to her, asking if she were alright and needed help. Luna panicked and grabbed the first clothing she could find, which happened to be a pair of faded black shorts. In the hurry, she asked if they had it in her size, and to her luck, they had some in the back, since the clerk couldn’t find any on the rack behind them. The clerk left to the back while Luna followed after them, waiting while calming down, beating herself down for panicking and shoving the cloth item into the clerks face. After a few minutes, the clerk came out again with her size, and Luna didn’t dare to say that she was only looking and bought it. Buying it and the clerk putting it in a bag, she paid and left in a hurry. Still being in her flustered state, she hurried over to the resort and up to her room, locking herself in while dumping herself onto the bed, letting out a loud sigh. Rolling around to lay on her back, she looked up at the ceiling, letting out another sigh. While laying there, the Alolan Vulpix of hers jumped out of its pokeball, landing beside her and stretched its body while yawning.

She looked over at it, seeing it sitting there, tilting its head at her. Luna smiled softly to it. «Bonjour, Neige.» she greeted it.

The pokemon gave a content cry, pawing at her cheek lightly, which made her giggle softly. Sitting up on the bed, she put the bag with the clothing down, took her bag off, putting it to the side before laying down again. The Vulpix laid down and scooted closer to her, nuzzling into her neck, starting to give off low, soft murrs. Luna smiled and put her hand on its back, gently petting it as it started to give off soft snores. Keeping her eyes up at the ceiling, listening to the Wingulls and Pikipeks cry in the distance, it slowly made her drowsy, and before she knew it, she dozed off, falling asleep. While she were sleeping, a Fletchling landed on the balcony of her room, minding its own business. The Vulpix woke up, noticing it and hearing it chirp. The pokemon kept its eyes on it, noticing something attached to it before the bird pokemon saw the Vulpix and flew off again in a hurry. Not knowing what it was holding, the Vuplix laid down again, falling back asleep. The Fletchling flew off and headed towards the Royal Avenue, landing on a bench beside a trainer.

The trainer gave it a light pat on its head. «Welcome back...Now...Did you  _ catch _ anything interesting?» they said, taking off the item the pokemon was.

What was taken off was a camera, which had been attached to the bird pokemon, tasking it with flying around to just catch whatever it could, with a hidden intention that the pokemon didn’t know about. Getting the camera off, and plugging it into a screen device, they called back the pokemon and put the pokeball into their pocket before continuing to look what was captured. Not finding anything of interest for a while, they sighed and were about to turn it off and move on, at least until the pokemon landed on Luna’s balcony and got a little glimpse of her and her Alolan Vulpix.

«Now that’s more like it...» they muttered softly, a grin slowly appearing. «Bonjour to you too, champ.»

* * *

As the evening got closer, Wicke were walking around Aether, just finishing up a few things at the office floor before taking a look at the entrance area. While walking around, she heard a sigh coming from the office beside her. Having passed the office a few times already, it was the first time she had heard anything come from it. She slowly opened the door and peeked inside, seeing Gladion sitting there, looking quite defeated down at some papers on hand. His defeated and quite blank expression made her smile softly while shaking her head, walking in.

«Master Gladion?» she called for him in a sweet tone.

«Hmm?» he hummed, not looking up at her.

«You have been sitting here for almost the whole day. Don’t you think it’s about time you take the evening off and spend it with Miss Mahina?» she said, approaching the desk.

«I still have these to look through.» he slightly hissed, tossing the small bundle of papers onto the desk in frustration.

«Those can wait, i’m sure. And...I’m believe that Miss Mahina would love to spend more time with you.~» she added, smiling sweetly to him.

Gladion looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. «What are you scheming…?»

«Scheming? I’m not scheming anything at all, Master Gladion.» she replied, sounding hurt. «Anyway...» she added and took up one of the documents, taking a look at it. «I’m sure these can wait, so you should go and spend time with your new girlfriend.» she finished, giving him a sweet, warm smile.

«I don’t know...» he muttered, taking up a different document.

Wicke snatched it from his hands. «I insist.» she said sternly to him.

«Fine! I’m leaving...I’m leaving.» he added, not being in the mood to talk back, nor having the energy to do so.

Wicke kept the smile on her as he got up from the chair. Gladion fixed his shirt as he passed by the desk, heading towards the door. Wicke made sure that he left before she gathered the unfinished documents and taking them with her. Gladion got out of the office and walked down the hallway, heading over to the elevator, hearing the chatter among the employees when they passed him, talking about work and what to do at their next day off. Getting onto the elevator and taking it down to the entrance area, he headed home, yawning on the way. Wicke did tell him off to spend time with Luna, though, he though that he would come off as needy if he just left Aether and just to find her, which was something he didn’t want to do. He figured that he would at least spend some time at home and take a shower before he would decide on anything. Getting inside of the mansion and heading up to his room, he dug up his phone on the way, just checking if there was any messages on it, hoping that they were from Luna. There was no messages, but rather a notice that the memory were starting to get full, which was rather odd, since he never really had anything on it that would take up to much space, much less any applications that were unnecessary. He stopped in the hallway in front of his door when he started to go through the storage settings, figuring out that it was his album that were getting full.

«What the hell…? I never use that thing...» he muttered, opening the door to his room and walked in.

Closing the door behind him, he leaned against it, going through the photo gallery, finding a new folder. Not remembering when that arrived, or what was even in it, since it was the main source for the memory telling him it was close to being full. He opened it and started to look through the images, which were slowly getting more and more visible, revealing a female figure in some lingerie. The more visible the female became, the more red appeared on his cheeks. As they were fully visible, he continued but started to feel bad, feeling that he should be looking at some photos that were of some stranger. The female were in various poses, showing off. The last picture made his eyes shot up, getting as beet red as possible when he saw who it was.

«Oh. My. Gosh...» he muttered to himself, the heat rising from his neck to his head in a second.

It was Luna, and after he had forgotten his phone in her room earlier that morning, she had taken the opportunity to use the camera, deciding to take a few of herself in a few of the different lingerie’s she had with her, and with the last of the batch, which was a selfie, her face was in it, giving him a playful wink. He kept staring at it, but got quite startled when a message came through, making him flinch and almost dropped his phone. Hurrying out of the album, and into the messages, seeing that it was from Lillie, he cleared his throat and replied to her, being quite baffled and unsure of what he actually saw on his phone. After replying to Lillie, he walked over to his bed, sitting down at the edge and found the last photo again, just continuously staring at it, and her, not being able to look away.


	39. Je t'aime

A day passed, and Gladion had taken Luna with him to the Altar of Sunne, as it was a place in Alola that she wanted to visit while being there, being curious of how the place looked like and if it was as big as the pamphlets have told her. Getting to the entrance for the canyon, Luna felt quite intimidated when starting on the climbing with him. He had told her that they could take the Charizard up, since it would be the easiest way, but she refused, wanting to take in the whole experience of actually climbing the way up, which he found admirable. Standing there, she looked at the massive dead tree beside them, letting out a soft sigh. Gladion, who was standing beside her, heard it and looked at her.

«The option is still available you know.» he said.

Luna shaked her head. «But I'll feel horrible if I don't take the proper way to get there, like most people that’s been there.» she replied, looking up at him with a sweet smile.

Gladion nodded. «I hear you, but you don’t have to feel bad about it.»

«I know...» she whined softly.

Gladion just chuckled. «Alright, whatever you want to do.» he replied to her.

She smiled at him and nodded. Standing there a little longer, just to mentally prepare herself, they started on the journey into the canyon. Starting on the climb, Gladion’s mind wandered back to the pictures of her that were on his phone. He had taken the time to sort them out, keeping the ones that were clear and not blurry, which made his cheeks gain a pink shade while thinking of it. Luna saw the pink shade but didn’t think too much about it, thinking that it would be because of the climbing they would be doing and were already doing. He had also mentioned that it would most likely take the whole day, since there would be a lot of different paths to take, and would be fairly easy to get lost. Because of that, Luna kept herself as close to him as possible, but could feel that she wasn’t in such a good shape that she thought. Not even getting close to half the way there, she were already quite exhausted, stopping to catch her breath for a few seconds. Gladion were panting heavily, but felt that he could at least go for longer.

«I can call for a...» he started.

«No…!» she slightly growled. «I can do this...» she huffed, panting heavily. «Arceus...I’m in bad shape...» she muttered to herself between her heavy breaths.

Gladion didn’t really listen, and called for a Taurus, which she didn’t hear arrive, being to busy catching her breath. After somewhat getting her breath back, Gladion walked over to her, taking her hand in his which surprised her, looking up in an instant. Meeting his gaze, she gave him a sheepish smile out of habit, which just made him softly smile back at her.

«It will be easier this way.» he said and looked over his shoulder, looking at the ride pokemon behind him. «Don’t want you to die...» he added.

Luna became beet red, cursing under her breath as he guided her with him over to the pokemon, helping her up before he got up behind her. «I’m sorry...» she muttered.

Putting his chin on her shoulder. «Don’t apologize. The highest “peak” in Kalos is the league after all. » he replied. Luna just hummed softly and nodded slightly.

«I’m the worst...» she then muttered, puffing her cheeks as he ordered the Pokemon to start walking.

* * *

Luna had gotten used to sitting on the ride pokemon, and found it more enjoyable than walking and climbing most of the way. It was quite strange at first, since she had been so persistent to do the trip by foot, making her stay quiet for a while, being embarrassed of herself. Gladion were chuckling silently, finding her adorable. They got to the hidden Dragon Trial in the canyon, and Gladion jumped down from the pokemon. Luna looked down at him, asking what was wrong.

«Nothing wrong...Just wondering if the Pokemon is lingering around waiting as usual.» he said, thinking hard. «It’s an abandoned trial site after all.»

«Oh? A trial? What Z-crystal?» she asked, getting off the pokemon.

«Dragon.» he flatly replied, crossing his arms.

Luna got up to his side, looking at the cave entrance. «I guess you can just walk through without any trouble?» she asked, looking at him.

He nodded and hummed softly. «Yeah...» he muttered.

«I’ll just take on the trial then.~» she replied cheerfully. «My Sylveon needs the exercise as well... » she added, chuckling sheepishly.

«You sure about that?» he asked, about to offer the Charizard ride over.

«I’m sure. These trials are more fun than a gym battle as well.» she said. «I’ll see you at the other side then.~» she said and found the pokeball for her Pokemon and walked into the cave.

Gladion just watched her disappear into the darkness in front of him. He scoffed lightly, calling back the Tauros and called out the Charizard, flying over the place to meet her at the other end. Luna stopped inside the cave, looking over her shoulder and saw Gladion fly off on the Charizard. She hummed and nodded to herself, calling out her Sylveon. The light, baby blue pokemon jumped out, giving off a content cry as it landed a little in front of her.

«Alright, Nymphali. Get yourself ready for some rumble.~» she said to it.

The pokemon gave a pleasant cry as they started to walk more into the cave, being ready for the Pokemon to attack. Walking in further on the path, the tension in the air changed, and the anticipation of a pokemon jumping out rose quickly. Her pokemon kept its ribbon like feelers around her arm as they continued. It didn’t take too long before a Jangmo-o jumped out, hissing at them. The fairy pokemon looked up at Luna, seeing that she were giving it a nod, gesturing it to get ready for a battle. Gladion were waiting on the other side, having called out the Taurus again. While waiting, he could hear the Kommo-o roar loudly, which startled the ride pokemon. Gladion called it back quickly, as he wouldn’t be able to calm the massive Pokemon down enough before Luna would get out of the trial cave. Holding the pager, he looked at the cave opening, hearing the roaring of the massive dragon Pokemon, as well as the soft cries from the fairy Pokemon attacking. Gladion sat down on one of the steps of the stairs, looking around the place until it got silent, instantly looking at the cave entrance in front of him. Her Sylveon ran out of the cave, jumping and crying happily. The Pokemon stopped and looked behind itself, waiting for Luna to get out. She were slowly emerging from the darkness of the cave, holding the Z-Crystal on hand, studying it closely. Gladion got up from the stairs and approached her.

«You got the crystal?» he asked.

Luna looked up at him, smiling and nodding. «I did indeed.~» she replied cheerfully, holding it up to show him. «My fourth crystal.» she added, calling her Pokemon back into its pokeball.

«Fourth?» he asked. «Taken more trials than the water and Olivia’s grand trial?»

«Oh. I got a crystal from Champion Sol, as he said he had a duplicate of it.» she replied, putting it into her bag and finding the Icium Z.

«Oh, right. He has a couple of the same ones for some reason.» Gladion muttered, scratching the back of his neck. «Ready to take on the stairs?» he then asked, turning around and looked over at the massive stairs.

He could hear the air leave her as she saw it, making him smile and hold in the chuckle. He didn’t even say anything else when he called for the Taurus again, hearing that Luna felt relieved that she would be taking on _that_ challenge. He helped her up before he got up on the pokemon, ordering it to start taking on the stairs, heading up to the altar. The sun had already started to set in the horizon, so he did at least want to let her see the view from one of the highest peaks in Alola. On the ride Pokemon, it didn’t take long before they were on the top and getting off. Luna walked off towards the altar, taking in the massive sight in front of her while Gladion called back the Taurus. Putting the pager into his bag, he looked over at her, seeing her rather amazed expression, the orange sky making her dark, long hair pop out even more in the soft breeze.

«Wow...» she muttered softly. Gladion just kept his eyes on her, humming softly to her, to which Luna heard and turned to look over her shoulder, meeting his gaze. She giggled softly. «You’re so cliche.» she said, timidly averting her gaze from him.

Gladion smirked and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. «According to your reaction, I'll take that as a win.» he murmured softly. Luna just huffed lightly.

* * *

Standing there for a while, looking at the sun disappears in the horizon and the sky slowly getting darker, stars slowly appearing on the dark background. Gladion had his chin on her shoulder still, feeling quite comfortable in that position of having her close. She moved slightly, giving him a soft peck on his cheek, which made a soft smile appear on his lips, leaning into it. As she refocused her attention to the horizon, he nuzzled into her neck, returning the soft peck and taking in her scent. As they kept standing there, Gladion’s mind started to wander as of why he was so physical with her, being as comfortable as he was, considering that his previous relationship were not close to what this was, making him slightly scared of the change within him, despite it making him as comfortable as possible. The more he thought about it, the more silent he became, which Luna noticed and gently placed her hand on his cheek, snapping him out of it.

He let out a soft, comfortable sigh. «We should get going before it’s too dark.»

«Probably.» she muttered softly, turning around while he still had his arms around her, meeting each other's gaze. She timidly averted it, having a soft smile on her lips.

_Je t’aime._

He could tell that she had been thinking long and hard about the simple, yet quite powerful sentence, noticing the timidness around how she said it. He smiled softly, feeling like his heart were about to jump out of his chest as he put his forehead onto hers, slightly forcing her to meet his again.

_Je t’aime aussi._

She smiled and giggled softly, a blush gracing her cheeks. He leaned in, locking their lips passionately. Sharing a few tender and passionate kisses before they decided to head back to Aether, taking the Charizard over. Gladion got the ride Pokemon out and urged for her to climb on first, but as much as she has been flying all over Kalos, she had never gotten over her fear of heights, which was something she hadn't told him, and wasn’t planning to either. She hesitated, but got onto the Pokemon first, followed by Gladion. She wasn’t too keen on flying, but definitely didn’t want to walk the entire way down, so she decided to just gather as much courage she could before they took off. As Gladion ordered the Pokemon to fly over to Aether, Luna shut her eyes instantly, only occasionally opening one to look around, only to tense up and shut her eyes closed again, clinging harder to the gear on the Pokemon. Since she had her eyes closed for most of the ride over, the ride seemed shorter as they landed on Aether, Gladion getting off and then helping her off. He could feel her shiver rather violently, but didn’t think too much of it, thinking it was because of the chilly air as they flew. Calling the Pokemon back into the pager, he looked over at her, looking rather quite relieved for being on the ground again, letting out a soft relieved sigh.

Gladion walked up to her. «Are you okay? Cold?»

She flinched and gave him a sheepish smile. «No, I'm fine...» she muttered.

He didn’t buy it, and raised an eyebrow at her. «You sure about that?»

She started to slowly nod, while he, at the same time, started to shake his head slowly. In the end she shook her head as well, letting out another soft sigh. «Darn it...» she cursed under her breath.

«Hmm?» he hummed softly, leaning forward towards her. «Is it heights that you don’t like?» he asked.

Luna became beet red. «Rather ridiculous...non?»

«You should have told me then. I wouldn’t have mentioned the Charizard ride if i knew you were scared of heights.» he said.

«Sorry...» she muttered timidly to him, giving him a sheepish smile. «I'm a champion and all...and that’s what I'm afraid of...»

«It’s a common fear, and I'm sure even more famous people have that fear.» he said, trying to reassure her. He looked at the time on his phone, seeing that the last ferry had already left for the night. «The last ferry have already left Aether for about an hour ago...Do you mind sleeping here?» he asked.

She shaked her head. «I don’t mind sleeping here.» she replied, her voice rather shaky from admitting that she had a fear of heights.

Taking her hand in his and linking their arms, they walked in to the entrance, the sharp light slightly hurting from being used to the dark outside. There weren't many employees around at this hour, so they didn’t need to maneuver their way around people, heading straight for the back of the main building. As they got outside again, Luna looked up in front of her, seeing the other massive, light up building in front of them.

«I’m such a commoner...» she muttered by the sight.

«No such thing.» he replied firmly to her. «I’m sure your place in Kalos is bigger than this.»

«My home is not even close to this...My home is...less than half.» she said, still looking in awe at the mansion.

«I have my doubts.» he chuckled and got up to the front door, opening it up and letting her walk in first, him following shortly behind her.

She stood in the middle of the hallway, looking around as he passed her, approaching one of the stair cases, to which she hurried after him. Getting up the stairs and down the hallway, looking at the different images and paintings hanging across the walls made her feel even more like a commoner. A peasant even. Gladion stopped in front of a door, hesitating before opening it. Luna figured it had to be his room, probably thinking of any excuses for whatever posters he had on the walls. He let out a silent sigh and opened the door, walking in and her following shortly. It was quite sleek and clean, and no posters on the walls as she could see when the light got on in the room. He pointed out to her that the attached bathroom were in the corner of the room as he got his hoodie off, putting his phone and bag onto his desk. Luna hummed softly. It was already quite late, so they decided to just head straight to bed.

«Umm...Do you have a tshirt I can borrow?» she asked timidly, a faint blush across her cheeks.

«Right...» he muttered, getting over to the dresser and finding a tshirt, handing it to her. «Here.»

«Merci.~» she said and headed to the bathroom, getting changed out of her clothes and into the tshirt of his.

As she were gone, he got himself under the covers, sitting up while looking at his phone, more specifically, the photos of her in her lingerie. He swallowed thickly, feeling the heat rise from his neck and up to his face. He flinched when she got out of the bathroom, dumping the phone down into his lap, she was holding her clothes while wearing his tshirt, which was quite oversized compared to her petite frame. Putting her clothes on a nearby chair by the bed, she got into it and under the covers and sat there a little, moving her hair away from her face. He watched her from the corner of his eye, watching her as she laid down and got comfortable. Letting out a soft, silent sigh, he got his phone and put it away on his nightstand, laying down as he turned the lights off. It was rather awkward for a few minutes, at least until she turned around and scooted closer to him, making him warp his arm around her and lightly draw circles on her upper arm. She put her arm around his waist, letting out a content sight.

«Don’t stop surprise me.» he said softly all of a sudden.

Luna shot her eyes up, a smile slowly appearing on her lips. «Oui oui…~» she replied softly, thinking that he were talking about the photos she took of herself to him.

She didn’t expect the reaction she got, but she loved it regardless, just giving her a little proof that he hasn't gotten any shots like that ever. Feeling that he were quite tense, she reached for his cheek, lightly tracing his jawline, as she had noticed that he loved it, and it calmed him how immensely. Like magic, he could feel himself relax quite quickly as she did it, ending up cuddling for a while until they drifted off to sleep.


	40. Their "Names"

Early that night, Gladion woke up again after trashing slightly in his sleep, slowly sitting up on the bed and running his hands over his face, letting out a soft sigh. Looking around his own room a little, he looked to his side, seeing Luna still sleeping soundly beside him. He let out a soft sigh and got out of the bed, silently walking over to the bathroom while looking over his shoulder, making sure that he didn’t wake her up. Getting into the bathroom, he didn’t even bother to turn on the light as he turned the water on, letting it run a little before gathering some in his palms and splash it on his face. He placed his hands on the sink and rested his weight on it, taking a few deep breaths, collecting himself.

«Fucking nightmares...» he muttered silently to himself, shaking his head a little.

Looking up at himself in the mirror, he quickly splashed some more water on his face, turning the water off and reached for a towel, drying his face off. Leaning over the sink a little more, collecting his thoughts some more before standing up, running his hand through his hair as he walked out of the bathroom, getting over to the bed again. Sitting down on the edge, Luna woke up from the weight shifting slightly. She blinked a couple of times and looked over her shoulder, looking directly at his back.

«Gladion…?» she muttered softly in a husky voice.

Getting surprised from her calling for him, he straightened his posture up, looking over his shoulder. «Did i wake you up?» he asked in a low voice.

She let out a soft, low hum, shaking her head slightly. «Non...Something wrong?» she asked.

«No, nothing is wrong.» he replied, getting under the covers again and scooted closer to her.

He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her shoulder, giving her a light peck. Luna turned around, facing him. Gladion didn’t waste any time by placing his lips on hers, giving her a soft kiss. She smiled softly, quickly returning it, ending up sharing a few before she settled under his chin, wrapping her arms around his waist. Gladion wrapped his arms around her, gently running his hand up and down on her back, taking in the gentle curve of hers. She just smiled softly, keeping her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep again. Gladion were awake for a few more minutes, just looking at her and taking in the moment, feeling comfortable. Hearing her soft breathing as she slept made him smile softly, giving her a soft peck on the top of her head before he adjusted a little and got more comfortable. He kept looking around the room a little more, thinking about the nightmare of his, that kept coming back, being the same thing getting repeated. He sighed softly, tightening the grip around her as he slowly closed his eyes.

_ Fuck those nightmares... _

* * *

Luna woke up later that morning, yawning and blinking a couple of times before she sat up in bed, stretching slightly and ran her hands through her bangs, rubbing her face in the process. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Gladion still sleeping. The covers partly covering his chest, she noticed the tattoo like marking on him, which made her remember the marking she had on her shoulder. Rather confused and still a little tired, she lifted up the shirt, looking over her shoulder to her back, catching a glimpse of the marking she had, moving her hair out of the way while shifting her gaze between the two. The marking on her had grown down her back, a little over her shoulder and side, several flowers in different colors had appeared. While she were busy wondering how and when it became so big on her, Gladion opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times as he looked over at her. Luna didn’t notice him slightly sitting up, resting his weight on his elbows as he kept looking at the flowers on her back and side, being as vibrant as they could get. Gladion looked down at his chest, his eyes getting wider, as his were just as vibrant and massive as hers.

«Comment est-ce devenu si gros…?» she muttered to herself.

«How long have you had that?» he asked, his voice husky.

Luna flinched and pulled down the shirt in a hurry. Gladion just looked at her confused. «Quoi…?» she muttered.

Leaning over towards her, he reached for her side and lightly pinched her side, making her yelp softly and move slightly away from him. «Ow...» she muttered softly. She looked over at him and at his chest. «I could ask you the same...»

He looked down at his chest for a second, then up at her again. «Wait...You can see it?» he asked. 

Luna just nodded, humming softly. «Oui.» she replied softly.

Thinking back at what Lillie had said about soulmates came up instantly on his mind, which made him look rather scared around the room. Luna saw his expression change, slowly getting scared as well, tightening the grip on the edge of the shirt, pulling it down more. It became very silent around them, Gladion thinking hard while Luna kept her eyes on him, waiting for him to say something. The silence got disrupted when Lillie knocked on the door, calling his name and telling him that their mother wanted him to meet her in the office whenever he were up. They both flinched and tensed up, looking at the door. Gladion replied quickly replied, to which Lillie replied to him and then left, not knowing that Luna were around. Hearing Lillie walk away in the hallway, they looked at each other, smiling sheepishly. He then sat up in bed, and Luna asked how long he had had that, since she couldn't remember seeing that on him before. 

«I guess it started to appear after you bumped into me at Akala...» he muttered softly.

«Oh...Sorry about that.» she then said, giving him a sheepish chuckle.

He chuckled softly. «That’s fine.» he replied softly. He reached for her chin, making her look at him. «Made me meet this particular girl that I can't get enough of.»

Luna blushed into a deep red. «Oh vous...» she muttered, a smile growing on her lips.

Letting the strange energy leave them behind about figuring out how they could see each other’s marks. Luna then asked if he knew what the marks was, since she had no idea and never heard about anything like this happen anywhere. Gladion didn’t know how to start, since the first thing he though of was the soulmate stuff. He told her not to laugh of whatever he told her, telling her that he had an idea of what they were. Luna nodded and listened intently as he told her what Lillie had told him. She understood what he was saying, but didn’t understand what the flowers would be representing. 

«How is this your name then?» she asked, lifting the shirt up a little, revealing it.

Gladion had taken a good look, but took a look again at what she were showing, lightly tracing one of the flowers on her back. «It’s the Gladiolus flower...» he muttered.

«Gladiolus? How is that..ooh...» she said, pausing a little as she got the connection.

«Yeah...» he muttered, looking down at the marking of his. «Then how the fuck is this your name…?» he added, looking disappointed.

Luna looked at his, tilting her head slightly. «The Morning Glory?»

«Morning Glory? That’s nowhere near your name...» he said, letting out a silent sigh.

«Not necessarily...The Morning Glory is also nicknamed Moonflower.» she said to him, looking up at his disappointed expression.

«Still makes no sense...»

«My name is just pokelatin for moon.» she added, smiling sweetly to him.

«That makes a little more sense.» he said, tilting his head slightly to the side. Luna giggled softly, poking his cheek.

He smiled sheepishly to her, gaining a faint rosy color on his cheeks while looking at her. Once she removed her finger from his cheek, he leaned in, giving her a soft kiss. It took her by surprise, but gave him a sweet smile.

«Bonjour mon cher.~» she said softly to him.

«Bonjour.» he replied back to her.

* * *

As the morning passed and Luna left Aether to get back to Akala, Gladion got over to the office after walking her down to the docks, watching her get on the ferry and leave the VLFS. As the ferry were out of sight, he got up to the office area, finding Lusamine in the office. She was dumping a ton of papers on him as usual, which he wasn't too fond over. Taking the papers with him, he left the main office and walked down the hallway to an empty one, getting more and more irritated the further down the hallway he got. Once in the office, he dumped the bundle on the desk and groaned.

«Why can’t she do these papers herself…?» he hissed silently to himself.

He got around the desk and sat down, starting on the bundle in front of him out of spite, growling to himself. The morning had been weird, but pleasant, finally finding his “name”, which made the load of papers easier to get through. While sitting there, the nightmare he had came to mind again. It was always the same after the Necrozma incident, where Lusamine went into the wormhole in order to catch it, only to get fused with the Ultra Beast Nihilego, making her unable to work for a while and traveling to Kanto with Lillie in order to find a way to get her better. It took a while, and while she were gone, he had taken on the role of running the company. Being the face and head of Aether for a few years had taken its toll, forcing him to grow up quicker than most his age at the time. At least Wicke was there to help him, which she still does. The nightmare were always the same. Going through the Ultra Wormhole in order to find their mother, battle against the Ultra Beast, get her home, getting back to Alola and out of the Ultra Space, only to meet with the sight of his family and friends laying around in pools of blood. The rising panic and the sight of their lifeless bodies kept haunting him, the sight getting burned into his mind. He knew it was just a matter of time if Luna would be one of those lifeless bodies. He kept going through the documents while being lost in thought, but snapped himself out of it when he grabbed the last paper in the bundle, getting rather surprised that it went so quick. 

He shaked his head. «Need to stop thinking about it...it will go away eventually...» he muttered to himself. «...Eventually...»

He sighed and finished, getting up from the chair and started to pace around, stretching his back and arms. Looking over at the finished papers, he gathered them up and took them with him out, planning to either hand them to Wicke if he found her or just go over to the main office and deliver them to Lusamine. Not really wanting to find Lusamine, knowing that she would have more documents that she didn’t want to go through, he hoped that he would walk into Wicke. Getting out of the room and starting to walk down the hallway, he bumped into Faba instead, who, as always, were are snarky as he could get towards him. Walking together down the hallway, Gladion got more and more irritated, as Faba would usually talk himself up and downgrade everyone else.

«Which direction are you going?» Gladion then asked, slightly hissing it to him.

«Of course i’m heading towards the main office, as miss Lusamine have asked for me.» he replied in a snobby tone, keeping his nose high.

«Great.» Gladion replied and showed the bundle of documents onto the guy. «These are going to Lusamine, and since you are heading over there anyway, you can take them, right? Great. Thanks.» he said and hurried off. 

Faba stood there stunned and confused, looking down at the documents he had gotten on him. Gladion turned the corner, but took a quick look over his shoulder to see the stunned man just standing there. He chuckled softly and continued towards the elevator, planning to get up to the conservation area and let Silvally out for a short while, letting it roam freely and get some time with his pokemon. Getting over to the elevator and taking it up to the conservation area, he quickly found the pokeball for Silvally and called it out, starting to walk around while keeping an eye on the artificial pokemon. Silvally gave a content growl while walking around, just stretching its legs and body while looking around as usual. Gladion didn’t manage to get the nightmare out of his mind, and the fear that Luna would most likely appear at some point. He stopped and ran his hand through his bangs, letting out a soft groan. Silvally, who had been tagging along a little behind him walked up and nudged him slightly, giving him a low growl. Gladion looked over his shoulder at the pokemon before turning around, placing his hand on it’s head.

«I’m fine. Just a lot to think about...» he muttered. Silvally gave off a low, soft growl, tilting its head a little to the side. «...And promise me that you’ll be nice to Luna and stop growling at her...hmm?» Silvally wasn’t too fond of him telling it that, as it were just a way to protect him after the previous girl that went down in a disaster, but gave another soft growl at him. «...We carry each other’s names after all...» Gladion added, making his pokemon confused. Seeing the confused look on it made him chuckle softly.


	41. Evening Still Young

The last few weeks passed, and Lusamine had been pestering Gladion on breaking up with Luna, since she didn’t like the coming long distance relationship it would come to be. Gladion didn’t listen and ignored it whenever she brought it up. He and Luna had talked about it, and figured that they will make it work. Being champion, he had to make it work with that, but since the league were quite dead most of the year, she told him that she would work up a schedule for it, making the most of it and get time off to either pay him a visit for a while in Alola, or when he were around in Kalos, visiting him. Gladion didn’t have any objections on that, and would do the same while working at the VLFS. Even Lillie had brought it up several times, finding it distressing that they had to be so far apart, and he made sure to tell her every time that they would work it out, as well as Luna had to tell Lillie a couple of times that she was determined to make it work. This day, they were sitting at Aether in one of the many meeting rooms, alongside with the other champions and their mentors, having the last meeting before everyone would leave for their own region again. Kanto and Jotho’s champions were nowhere to be seen, as they had backed off from the Aether expansion project. Lusamine were still quite upset about them backing off, and had a hard time deciding on which region she would start on now, telling them that she would have to take her time and talk to each individual. The champions, their mentors and the respective professors in each region before doing a final decision. Sitting there, Gladion found it rather dull and uninteresting, since it was just a summary of what had been happening the past months in the meetings, and there wasn’t really any progress as far as he could hear. 

«Literally no progress in this...» he hissed to himself.

Luna heard him mutter something and just smiled sheepishly, thinking it was something about Aether in general, having told her that there was a lot that he would change when he would get the chance. Sitting beside him, she reached for his knee, giving him a light squeeze, disrupting his train of thought. He looked over at her, seeing her give him a soft smile. Taking her hand in his, intertwining their fingers, running his thumb over hers gently. Lusamine wrapped up the meeting, saying that it was one of the last meetings before it would be over and they would be able to go home to their region, but that they had to be available if she had to contact them. Diantha wasn’t too fond of the tone the blonde woman used, and could see the glares she shot over at Luna and Gladion occasionally, but didn’t say or do anything, planning to take it up with Luna later. Lusamine gathered her papers, telling them to have a good day and left in a hurry, noticing the glare Gladion sent her as she passed, giving him a glare back. The rest got up from the chairs and slowly left the room, chatting among themselves about the project and what they were generally thinking about it. As Luna and Gladion got up from the chair and walked out, Diantha got Luna’s attention and pulled her aside in order to ask a few questions.

«Sorry to drag you away from your man.» she said, giving her a playful wink. «But I have a few questions about this. You are the champion after all and will, most likely, have the final word in this expansion project...So...What’s your thoughts on this so far?»

Luna nodded. «Well...» she muttered softly. «...It’s a good idea, i like the thought behind it in order to help Pokemon get back into the wild and help injured ones...»

«...But…?» Diantha asked, seeing that she were hesitating.

«...I just need some more time to think over it. It’s a massive project and it will affect Kalos overall.» Luna finished, giving her a sweet smile.

Diantha nodded. «I agree. Better to give it a good thought before agreeing to anything. Miss President also needs to pick the region she wants to start in first.»

«Yeah..» Luna muttered softly, nodding. 

Gladion were a few feet away. He didn’t pay much attention to what they were talking about, but knew it was about the Aether expansion project, and seeing her looking rather hesitant on replying were understandable. Diantha then gave her a sweet smile.

«Hopefully you can keep that boy around.~» she said, giving her a playful wink. Luna got beet red, getting quite flustered, which made the former champion giggle softly. «Don’t be embarrassed, I'm happy for you.» she added, passing her.

Luna stood there, her hands on her cheeks and looking quite flustered. Gladion nodded at Diantha as she passed, looking over at Luna, who stood her ground. He walked over to her and put his hand on her lower back.

«Everything alright?» he asked.

Luna looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile. «I’m fine...Diantha just...had to say something embarrassing...» she replied, followed by a sheepish chuckle.

Smiling softly to her. «If you say so. Want to get something to eat? The meeting were longer than anticipated.»

She nodded. «Oui, I would love to.»

«Melemele Island alright?» he then asked, finding it to low for her Kalosian standards.

She hummed softly. «Oui.~ Melemele Island is fine.» she said, smiling softly.

* * *

After getting something to eat in Hau’oli City, he took her with her to Ula’ula Island, over to the Lake of Moone, being the last place she wanted to visit. They didn’t stay around the place for too long, as it was hard to see were they were going because of the fog that would linger around the place. Getting down from the ruins and into Ula’ula Meadow, Luna stopped and looked around, listening to the Oricorio’s that were chirping around, minding their own business. Luna hurried up to him, as she stopped to put her hair up in a ponytail, taking in the sight while doing so. As she got over to his side again, she linked her arm with his, continuing out of the meadow. Gladion personally never liked the meadow, finding the scent around the place a bit to strong for his liking, which was something Luna mentioned when they got over to the beach again, where the air was feeling way cleaner.

«How come the meadow is having that scent?» she asked, walking alongside the shore.

«It’s been like that forever, so i don’t know. Probably something in the soil they are growing in?» he replied to her, not being sure about it himself.

Luna hummed softly and nodded, giggling. «Mysteries in Alola.» she said, smiling.

«You have no idea.» he replied to her, not been telling her about the Ultra Beast’s that’s rather a common sight in Alola.

It made him think about the UBs, as she and a handful of the other champions had been in Alola the whole time for the past six months, and there hadn’t been any UB sightings at all, which was rather suspicious on it’s own. Since nothing had happened and she most likely didn’t know anything about them, he didn’t say anything, not wanting to scare her. Walking down the beach, they stopped and Gladion called for the Lapras ride. He got up on the pokemon first, standing behind the seat and helped her up on it. Luna took the seat, and got comfortable while Gladion kept standing behind her, holding himself onto the seat as he ordered the Pokemon to go. While getting over to the other side of route 16 and 15, he could feel a lump growing in his throat when the thought of her leaving for Kalos pretty soon, swallowing thickly in order to try to remove it. He became quite silent, which made her lean back, letting him rest his chin on her shoulder. He got surprised at first, getting snapped out of his thoughts, but a smile quickly appeared on his lips, giving her a soft peck on her neck. 

«You doing okay back there?» she asked, giggling.

«I’m doing fine. Just...enjoying the sight.» he said, giving her a light bite on her shoulder.

«Ow! Gladion!» she exclaimed, nudging him slightly with her shoulder. Gladion just chuckled softly, resting his chin on her shoulder again, making her lean her head towards his.

Getting across and landing on the other side, Gladion jumped off the pokemon first and then helped her off. Luna stumbled a little, face planting into his chest as he caught her. He chuckled a little and helped her back onto her feet before he got the pager and called the ride pokemon back. While standing there on the beach, Guzma and Plumeria were laying around, minding their own business. Gladion and Luna didn’t notice them as they walked off, passing them laying in the patch of grass, looking up at the sky and just banter between themselves. Plumeria heard his voice and sat up, looking into the direction it came from, seeing him and Luna.

«Well damn, the mini edge got a girl.» she said, adjusting her bandanna.

Guzma hummed softly, not bothering to get up. «Mini edge? Been a while since i have seen that kid.» he muttered.

«He’s right over there if you just sat up a little, dumbass.» she growled to him.

«Yeah yeah...whatever...» he murmured, waving his hand at her. His eyes then shot up and he sat up in a hurry. «Wait...A girl you said?»

Plumeria just pointed in the direction, despite the two being quite a distance away. Guzma lifted his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes. «Over there.» she said.

«I would be damned.» he muttered. 

«Hopefully that’s a girl worth hanging on to.» Plumeria added, shrugging and laid back down again. 

«Heh. I wouldn’t be surprised that she’s just a quick summer fling.» he added, chuckling. Plumeria then gave him a light punch on his arm, hissing that he shouldn’t say such things since he was a good kid, just misunderstood most of the time.

Gladion and Luna continued over to Malie and got onto the ferry after getting some shopping done. Gladion had no plans on getting over to Akala and the resort with her, but she managed to drag him with her, having some plans on her mind already. They stopped in front of the entrance of the hotel and he were about to leave again, but Luna quickly grabbed the shirt of his, making him stop and look over at her, seeing a rather mischievous smirk and seductive look in her eyes.

«Where are you going.~» she asked softly.

He chuckled and turned towards her. «Apparently nowhere.» he murmured, placing his hands on her hips, making her sway lightly from side to side, their foreheads touching and her arms gently wrapped around his neck.

They shared a soft kiss before letting go and her taking his hand, dragging him somewhat with her. The staff around in the lobby didn’t notice them as they got into one of the elevators, Luna pushing the button for her floor and as quickly the doors closed, Gladion grabbed her by her hips and pulled her against him, his crotch grinding against her rear. Luna slightly yelped as he pulled her towards him, but as soon as she felt himself behind her, she didn’t hesitate on moving her hips slightly. They stopped once the elevator stopped and a few others got into it, planning to get down and out to the city. The two kept standing close, his hands firmly planted on her hips. Trying to look as natural as possible, she leaned all the way back, leaning against him. The others that were in the elevator were feeling quite awkward, but the energy got more comfortable the second the two left and walked down the hallway on her floor. Slightly messing around over to her room, he didn’t waste any time as soon as the door got closed and locked, pinning her front towards the wall while he kept his crotch against her rear. Sliding his hands up under her shirt, feeling her up her sides slowly, going up to her breasts and gently cupping them. Luna could feel him grow behind her and slightly moved her hips, grinding on him as he leaned forward, bushing his lips over her skin, his hot breath gently tickling her, sending waves through her body.

Sliding his hand up under her bra, he gently started to knead on her as his other hand quickly found it’s way down to her pants, undoing them in a hurry, starting to slide them down. As he started to do that, she quickly dug up a tiny package from her pocket, slipping it into his hand as her pants dropped to her knees. Feeling the package in his hand, he quickly took a look at it, chuckling.

«Planned this for the whole day?» he asked in a low tone.

«Have no idea what you are talking about.~» she murmured back.

He smirked and gave her a light bite on her shoulder, letting go of her breast and held the pack with his teeth as he undid his pants, dragging his boxers down slightly, revealing his very aroused member. Taking the rubber out of the package and putting it on, he gently teased her by rubbing his length on her rear. Luna kept slightly moving her hips on him as he placed his hands on her hips again, slowly pulling off her underwear slightly. Her breath were rather heavy, but yelped as he made short work of her, shoving his member into her.

«Sacrê bleu!» she exclaimed, her body tensing up.

Gladion let out a soft huff from the sudden tightness that enveloped him. He smirked and leaned forward to her. «You did ask for it.» he murmured.

«Ah...Oui...» she muttered softly between her breath, her body slowly relaxing as he moved his hands up to her breasts again, kneading gently.

Brushing his lips on her neck, he slowly started to move his hips, thrusting into her and pushing her more towards the wall. He kept a steady pace, her soft moans being music to his ears, making the lust in him grow stronger and wanting more. He let go of her breasts and placed his hands on her hips again, thrusting into her and quickened the pace, feeling her inner walls slightly spasming around him. In an attempt to make herself more steady, she had spread her legs a little, making her arch her back as he kept her pinned towards the wall. It didn’t take too long before she reached her end of the run, starting to stutter her moans and her inner walls tightening greatly around him, making a soft groan escaped his lips, keeping the pace and tightening the grip on her hips, thrusting more roughly into her. As he kept going roughly into her, he gave a final, rough thrust, tightening the grip on her hips and pulled her towards him, reaching the end of his run. The intensity of the feeling going up his spine, making his lower jaw tremble from it, feeling his length throb slightly inside of her. Catching their breaths a little, letting their bodies calm down from the rough and quick intercourse, he pulled out of her, getting the rubber off and threw it into the nearby bin. Luna pulled her underwear and pants up, but didn’t bother to button them up, getting  _ back up _ on her feet. Her legs were feeling rather shaky, so she moved over to the bed, sitting down and faced him. Both being somewhat half dressed, she just used her index finger and gestured for him to get over to her when they locked eyes. A faint blush appeared over his cheeks, looking at her sit on the edge of the bed, keeping a seductive look in her eyes. He just slightly smirked and moved over to her, crawling over her as they got onto the bed, locking their lips while starting to undress each other, getting ready and worked up for a second round.


	42. Vous me manques

Gladion woke up, blinking a couple of times before he slowly sat up in bed with a soft groan, running his hand over his face and pushing his bangs back a little, letting out a soft sigh. Looking around, he leaned down and reached for his pants in order to find his phone, taking a quick look at the time. Letting out another groan when he saw that it was 5pm, he put the device onto the nightstand on the side, looking over at Luna who were still sleeping soundly. The sheets were slightly covering her, revealing most of her back and the marking, which were massive as it kept stretching over her left side on her back. Tracking it with his eyes, looking at the many flowers that had appeared on her, in several different colors. Taking a quick look at his, the flowers he had were of a few, but had the same coloration on them. Going from a light color and slowly going gradient over to a darker, making him wonder if the colors were themselves or just a part of the flower nature itself. A yawn escaped him, making him lay down again, getting the cover more over them both before he wrapped his arms around her waist, letting out a soft, contented sigh. Luna slightly woke up from him scooting closer and wrapping his arms around her, making her move slightly in order to snuggle up to him, taking his hand and pulling it up towards her, intertwining their fingers as she lightly nuzzled into his palm, drifting off to sleep just as quickly as she woke up. Gladion got surprised at first, but since she didn’t move too much, he just laid back down, a soft, warm smile appearing his lips as he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep again. 

They slept for a few more hours, getting woken up by one of the hotel’s housekeepers. The housekeeper were using the key to unlock the door, which woke the two up, Gladion slightly sitting up in bed, both looking over at the door. As the door opened and the cleaner walked in, walking into the room and shrieked when they saw the two laying in the bed, looking rather confused. The cleaner turned around and hurried out of the room, apologizing as they got out and closed the door behind them. Gladion and Luna were just laying there, still confused. The two exchanged looks for a brief second before Luna let out a sheepish chuckle.

Gladion groaned lightly. «Now that’s one way to wake up...» he lightly hissed.

Luna giggled and turned, laying on her back and looking up at him. «Not the most fancy, but i guess it works.»

Gladion looked down at her, catching her soft smile. He hummed softly as a smirk grew on his lips. «I believe I know of a better way to wake up.» he murmured and leaned down and over her.

Moving to her neck, he lightly bit her. She shrieked softly, followed by a soft giggle. «Gladion!»

Gladion chuckled, planting a soft kiss on the spot he bit her. Leaning back a little, he gave her a tender, passionate kiss. «Bonjour.~» he murmured to her.

«Bonjour.~» she murmured back.

* * *

The hours passed, and it was time for Luna to leave the region. The Kalosian champion wasn’t too fond of leaving, but she had her league duties around the region. She had packed her luggage and gotten outside of the resort, meeting up with Diantha and the others who were staying at the place. Getting their luggage into a taxi and then headed over to Heahea marine, and getting their stuff onto the ferry that would take them to the nearby region in order to get back to their home region. The ride over to the marine didn’t take too long, and while checking in their luggage, Gladion showed up, looking rather stressed. Since there was a little time left before the ferry would leave, Luna had taken a seat outside of the terminal, just looking around the streets nearby. Luna saw him walk over and smiled warmly to him, which quickly turned into a confused look.

«You okay?» she asked.

«My mom is going to kill me if she figures out that i’m here...» he muttered, scratching the back of his neck, groaning.

Luna got up from the bench were she was sitting and walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. «You snuck away? Why?»

Placing his hands on her hips and moved her as close as possible to him. «Didn’t want to make my girl leave without a proper goodbye. Is that a good enough reason?»

«Not really worth it if you get in trouble because of it.» she replied with a soft sigh, shaking her head slightly.

«It’s all worth it.» he murmured, lifting her chin up. «Definitely worth it.» he added, looking into her grey eyes.

A light pink color appeared on her cheeks as she smiled softly to him. «Cheesy.» she said.

He chuckled softly. «By the looks of the blush of yours, it worked.» Luna just timidly averted her eyes, keeping a smile on her lips. Keeping her chin up, he gave her a soft kiss.

She told him that she had a few minutes left, and that everyone else were inside the terminal, chatting as usual. She could feel the lump in her throat grow as the seconds passed, getting closer to her departure. Gladion could see that tears were forming in her eyes and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly as she buried her face in his chest.

«Je suis désolé...» she muttered softly.

«C’est bien.» he replied softly.

Diantha had walked out a few minutes earlier in order to look for Luna, but as she watched them, she didn’t interrupt, seeing fully well that she had gotten quite attached to the Alolan. She was happy for her and could see it was hard to leave, but knew she had to interrupt after a while, as the ferry would be leaving soon, and they had to be on board at least 10 minutes before the departure, being in their seats. Keeping a close eye on the time, she eventually walked over to them.

«Excuse me.» she said softly. Making the two look at her. «The ferry is about to leave, and we should be on board.» she said as nicely as possible.

«Oui...» Luna muttered softly.

«Right.» Gladion muttered softly. Diantha nodded and smiled sweetly, backing off to give them a little more time. Gladion looked down at Luna, giving her a soft smile. «Let me know when you are back home. At least then i know you are home, and safe.»

Luna nodded and hummed softly. «Bien sûr...» she replied softly. She got up on her toes and gave him a soft kiss. «Au revoir l’amour.»

«Je te verrai plus tard.» he replied, giving her a reassuring smile.

She smiled and nodded. «Oui. À plus tard.~»

Gladion then let go of her, but walked with her to the entrance of the terminal, watching her walk inside with Diantha. It still hadn’t gone up for him that she were leaving, and that he had found himself a girlfriend. Standing at the marine, looking over at the VLFS in the distance, the speakers around the marine went off, announcing that the ferry for leaving Alola were leaving. It was then it hit him that she were going to be quite a distance away from him, feeling a growing lump in his chest and throat, trying to swallow it away and keeping his calm composure. The speakers then went off and the ferry then started to leave the docks, slowly emerging from the docking area inside the terminal. Gladion kept watching the ferry pass him and get further out into the ocean. He let out a sigh and about to find the pager in order to get back to Aether in a hurry, hoping that Lusamine didn’t notice that he wasn’t around. As he found the pager, the ferry had already gotten quite the distance away. As he paged the Charizard, he got a message on his phone. Taking his phone up in a hurry, he got quite disappointed when it was from Lillie, asking where he was. 

_ I’m on my way back to Aether...I’ll be there in a few seconds.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Alright. Mom is looking for you…  _ **_\- Lillie_ **

_ Great… _

* * *

A few hours had passed since Luna had now left Alola, and he felt quite uncomfortable not being able to contact her in anyway. Being out at sea would mess up with the connection to everything electronic, and he knew it was as annoying as it could get, but knowing that his significant other were out there somewhere made the matter much worse. He tried to distract himself with some Aether work, but that made him even more distracted. Luna on the other hand, were bored out of her mind. Sitting there, listening to others talk about whatever between heaven and earth. While listening to them, she had started on working on a schedule for herself for the league, wanting to be able to have time off if she would travel to Alola again, or if Gladion decided to show up. She still needed to consult the elite four about it, but she knew that Malva would at least approve of a schedule, knowing that she were working as a news host and would need the extra time to either relax or do research for whatever topic she would be telling people. Drasna would most likely approve of a schedule as well, since she were occasionally complaining about not having enough time with her family and her grandchildren and Diantha for being able to focus more on her acting career. Wikstrom and Siebold would be a shot in the dark, since they didn’t really say much whenever there was a league meeting. They met up at the league and left for their respective chambers as quickly as they arrived, making it hard to even have a conversation with them.

She sighed softly, which Diantha noticed and looked over at her. «Everything alright?» she asked.

«Yeah...somewhat.» Luna replied lightly.

«I know it’s hard to leave someone you care about behind...» she started.

Luna interrupted her. «I’m fine on that regard. Yeah, it’s hard, but it’s not like i’m not going to see him again.»

«Oh. Then why the sigh?» she asked.

«I’m just...trying to set up a schedule for myself at the league, but it has to be consulted with the others in the elite four as well.» she replied, followed by another sigh.

«I’m sure they will listen and agree to a proper schedule. It’s been...all over the place for years now after all.» Diantha said, giving off a soft sigh as well.

«Well...the trouble is with Siebold and Wikstrom.» Luna added.

«Oh? Is it because of their silence?» she asked. Luna just nodded and hummed softly. «Oh, i’m sure they’ll listen and give some feedback. They do talk highly of you after all.»

«They do?» she asked, not really believing what she heard.

«Of course. You are the champion after all. They just feel that they are too old to talk to you.» Diantha said, laughing softly.

«Heh...I would like to know what Drasna thinks of that...she’s literally the oldest of us all up at the league.»

Diantha chuckled softly. «She sure is.»

Luna then handed over the rough schedule she had set up in her notebook to Diantha, wanting her to look over it and give some input. Diantha looked over it and found it quite reasonable, but told her that she had to talk to the others before setting anything final up. Luna said that she were planning to do so, and had just put it up to have something to work out from. 

«It’s a good start, and i’m happy that you’ll take the time to actually do this.» she said and handed it over to her again. «It’s good to get time to yourself and your family whenever you can.»

«Yeah...» Luna muttered softly, looking down at the notes she had taken.

Diantha got interrupted by one of the other and got back into chatting while Luna let out a sigh again. She closed her notebook and put it back into her bag, looking out the window and out as the horizon, seeing nothing but water in all directions.

_ Je sais que ça ne fait que quelques heures ... mais tu me manques ... _


	43. Kalos

Around two months passed since Luna got back to Kalos, and have managed to make a schedule that everyone at the league could work with. As soon as that was done, she had sent it to Gladion, since he asked for it, wanting to be able to work around the schedule he had at Aether, being able to spend time with her whenever she would visit or if he would take the trip over. As quickly he got the schedule of hers for the league, he managed to work it into his schedule, and with that, they quickly made plans on meeting again. The plan was for her to get to Alola again, but with Lusamine constantly bugging him, he decided it would be for the best to leave the region in order to get some peace. Been giving Luna a few updates on that, and how Lusamine were the main reason for the change, Luna understood and didn’t complain about him coming over to Kalos instead. Sitting around in the mansion at the VLFS, he kept his attention on his phone, occasionally shifting his gaze up at the TV in the living room, slightly follow whatever show that was on. 

_ Sorry for the sudden change...but mother is unbearable.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_   
_ _ Don’t be sorry. And i guess it will be good to get away a little from each other? Starting fresh again when you get back to Alola after being here for a few days.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ I guess, but I have my doubts...  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

Gladion sighed, shaking his head slightly as he put his phone into his lap, running his hands over his face in frustration. Lusamine had and kept giving him her opinion on their relationship, not liking the long distance, to which he fired back at.

«You used to live in Unova...and moved to Alola in order to be with dad, so what’s the difference?»

Whenever he said that, she kept herself quiet, and if Wicke and Faba were around, they just looked at him with big eyes. It gave him quite the adrenaline rush, keeping him quite calm in those very tense situations. Lusamine didn’t like that he talked back, but at the same time couldn’t do much about it. Being a young adult, it was just natural to think about his own future rather than Aether as a whole. He did care about the company, but Luna took up most of his mind, something that Lusamine also had noticed, was that he were more relaxed and happy, something that was rare in the past, with the Ultra Beast incident, Necrozma and the whole Team Skull ordeal. Looking up at the TV, the show that was on ended, and some commercials started, showing off whatever they were trying to sell to people. Looking at the screen, he let out another sigh and picked up  his phone again, looking at the new message that had just arrived. A soft smile appeared on his lips as he replied to her, asking on how the league was now that there was a schedule and if it was working.

_ The schedule is working as far as i know. They haven’t said anything to me, as well as Diantha seemed happy to be focusing on her acting career more.  _ **_\- Luna_ **

_ As long as they don’t complain.  _ **_\- Gladion_ **

_ Oui~!  _ **_\- Luna_ **

Texting a little back and forth, he got up from the couch he was sitting in, turned the TV off and left for his room, thinking of finding his bag and start packing, as it would be a few more days until he would leave for Kalos and be staying for a while, at least until after Christmas, which was the plan to begin with for her.

* * *

The days passed, and Gladion had packed his stuff and got himself ready to board the plane that would take him over to Kalos. Lusamine had given him a piece of her mind as he left the mansion, while Lillie just kept herself quiet and walked with him out and over to the plane. She just sighed softly, shaking her head slightly. Gladion saw it from the corner of his eyes and asked why she sighed.

«Just...disappointed about mom.» she muttered softly.

«Right...» he muttered back, not sure what he would be replying.

«It’s just...she should be happy for you. You have a girlfriend, and are happy and all that..and she’s just...not...»

«I’m not surprised. Mother has been like that since day one it became official.» he replied, getting himself mentally ready to get onto the plane as they got closer to it.

«I’ve noticed...and it’s really upsetting.» she muttered, pouting a little. «After all that has happened in the past...i would at least think that she would be a little bit happy...» she added silently.

«Can’t do anything about it.» he flatly replied.

They got over to the plane and stopped, Gladion handing his luggage to the crew, who loaded it into the back of the. Lillie looked at his bags getting put away, and her brother getting ready to board the plane. He turned towards her.

«Time to get going then.» he said softly. 

«Yeah...» Lillie muttered, nodding. «Take care, be safe and have fun! Oh! Say hi to Luna for me!» she added, forcing a sweet smile to him.

«I will...Just...make sure that mother isn’t overbearing and upset for the time i’m not around.» he said.

«I’ll do my best.~» she replied, giving him a thumbs up. 

Lusamine were watching from the office, glaring down at them as they said goodbye to each other, having a quick hug and parting ways, Lillie heading inside of Aether and Gladion getting into the plane, taking a seat. Lusamine scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning her back and getting back to the papers she was working on. Gladion found a seat and sat down, getting belt on since it shouldn’t take to long before he would be in the air. Watching the Wingulls hover around in the air, screeching loudly, he dug his phone up from the pocket of his jacket and gave Luna a quick text, telling that he were on his way and should be airborne soon. As quickly he sent it, the pilots walked in and greeted him, giving him a brief weather forecast for the flight before they got into the cockpit. Knowing that he wouldn’t get a reply from Luna, since it was nighttime in Kalos, he put his phone away, getting more comfortable in his seat. While he were sitting in the plane, Lillie had taken the trip up to the main office, thinking it was about time to confront her mother about her rather ridiculous and childish behaviour. Wicke was out in the hallway as she passed the young blonde woman, seeing that she clearly wasn’t happy. Deciding to sneak along with her, making sure that nothing happened and being able to defuse the situation is necessary. Hearing the plane take off in the background, Lillie barged inside the office, growling to Lusamine.

«What do you want? Can’t you see that I'm busy?» Lusamine hissed.

Lillie walked straight up to her, slamming her hands onto the desk. «Why are you so...impossible!?» she snarled.

«Excuse me?» Lusamine hissed, looking up at the young girl, who weren’t looking happy as she straightens up her posture, crossing her arms.

«Why are you like this? Why are you always so...demanding and controlling when it comes to Gladion? Can’t he be happy at all?» she asked, slightly snarling it.

«Lillie...Please...» she muttered, letting out a frustrated sigh as she put down the pen.

«Mother! Answer me!» she hissed harshly.

«The Kalos champion is just a bad distraction from his duties here at Aether. He won’t be able to fully focus if his mind is on that girl! I wish him nothing but happiness, but I think the future of this company is more important!» she said, standing up in a second and slammed her hands onto the desk, making Lillie flinch. 

The harsh glare Lusamine gave her, gave Lillie the shivers, the feeling crawling slowly down her back. The blonde girl swallowed thickly. «Is all of this because of dad?» she then asked, her voice soft and low.

Lusamine’s eyes grew wide, and Wicke, who had been standing outside in the hallway, listening closely, lost her lower jaw, both in surprise and slight horror. «What..?» Lusamine hissed.

«Since dad disappeared...you got so obsessed with the UBs...You even got possessed by one...» she said softly, looking down at the white flooring. «You have no idea what brother have done for this company! He literally kept it afloat while you and I were in Kanto for years! And this is what he gets!? You treating him like trash!? Is if because he took one of the Type: Null’s!? Is it because he ran away back then!?» she harshly shouted to the, now, quite baffled blonde woman behind the desk. Lillie inhaled deeply, collecting herself. «He’s been nothing but supportive, yet you treat him like he’s the biggest mistake in your life...» she added and turned around, hurrying out of the office as tears started to appear in her eyes. 

Lusamine just stood there, looking bewildered at the door that slammed shut in front of her. Lillie hurried past Wicke, not noticing that she was there beside the door in the hallway. Wicke were still baffled, since Lillie had always been such a soft and kind girl, but had found her own strength as the years passed, with the help of her friends and her brother. Wicke stood there for a few seconds before getting the courage to look inside the office, slowly opening the door to take a peek. Lusamine were still standing there, silently and looking down at the desk. Wicke opened the door a little more.

«Ma’m?» she called for her softly. Lusamine looked up at the busty woman, giving her a glare which made her flinch. «Right...I’ll come back with some coffee.» she said in a hurry and left just as quickly. 

Lusamine then sat down into the chair, letting out a sigh-like growl. «I haven’t trained him up to take over this company, just so he can run away with some girl.» she hissed silently to herself.

* * *

The flight over were long and tiresome. As much as he didn’t mind flying, he still somewhat hated it, since he didn’t manage to get any sleep most of the time. About to doze off, the pilot’s announced that they were in Kalos, and would be landing shortly, making him flinch awake again. He sighed softly and looked outside of the window, seeing the lights of the different cities light up the region, and the Lumiose tower in the center, being the pride monument of Kalos. Looking down at the region, he felt a little anxious, since it had been a few months since he had seen her, and were slightly scared if there was still some feelings harboring between them. Circling around a little, the flight descended and eventually touched the ground at Lumiose Airport, rolling up to a gate. As quickly as the plane stopped and the engines turned off, he unbuckled and got up from the seat, stretching his back, cracking a few joints back into place. Getting his hand luggage, and a pilot getting out of the cockpit, greeting him and opening the door, he got outside, inhaling deeply. Getting out and the rest of his luggage, he walked through the airport and to the exit, looking around to see if Luna was around. She knew he would be landing late evening, and had told him that she would be there to meet him. Not seeing her around the hall, he could feel his heart starting to sink, but froze on the spot when he heard his name being called from his right.

«Gladion!» Turning and looking into the direction where he heard his name coming form, he could see her run up to him. She threw herself over him, wrapping her arms around him while softly squealing. «You’re here!» 

Letting go of his bag, he quickly wrapped his arms around her. «Of course I'm here.» he said in a low, husky voice. She giggled and lightly wriggled her body, which made a soft smile appear on him.

Slightly letting go, she leaned back and looked up at him, smiling softly. «How was the flight?»

«Horrendous...» he replied. «As much as I don't mind flying, I still hate it...» he added, followed by a yawn, which told her why he didn’t like it.

She giggled softly. «Good thing it’s late, so you don’t have to stay up for too long.» 

«Yeah.» he muttered softly.

«Bienvenue à Kalos.~» she said softly.

«Merci.» he replied softly, leaning slightly down to give her a light peck on her lips.

After standing there for a while, they let go of each other and started to move outside, getting a taxi and heading over to Snowbelle City, where Luna were living with her family. It hadn’t crossed his mind yet that he would be meeting her family the next day, as he could only keep his eyes on her and his mind on getting some sleep after a very long flight over.


	44. Boyfriend

Getting over to Snowbelle City and over to her home, they got inside. The warmth inside were quite pleasant after a short walk from the taxi, waking him up slightly. Luna put her index finger over her lips, gesturing that they had to be quiet since her family were most likely sleeping at this hour. He nodded and they both silently got out of their shoes, Luna helping and guiding him with her to the second floor, to her room. Walking with his luggage on hand and following her over to the stairs and up, he looked around. The place was rather small, like a cottage. It was unusual for him, but he didn’t hate. Finding it rather charming. Luna stopped and opened a door and walked in, him following her closely. She turned on the lights and turned around, looking at him rather embarrassed.

«This is my room….It’s rather...crowded...» she muttered with a sheepish smile on her lips and a faint color of red on her cheeks.

Gladion slightly looked around, a faint color of red appearing on him. It wasn’t as crowded as she made it sound like. A massive frame on the wall, sporting all the Mega stones from the region caught his eye. «How do you even call this  _ crowded _ ...?» he asked.

She started to fiddle with her sleeve. «It’s a small house...» she muttered.

«I’m sure it won’t help...But Sol’s place is looking like a warzone compared to this...» he added, clearing his throat.

Luna giggled softly. «If you say so...»

She then quickly changed the subject, telling him that they should get some sleep, considering that he had been traveling for a while. He walked more into her room and Luna passed, closing the door behind him. He put his luggage down and close to the wall, not taking up any major space. Luna showed him the bathroom, which was connected to her bedroom.

«You have to make sure the other door is locked as well if you are in, since it goes out to the hallway.» she said lightly. 

«Alright. I’ll be sure to remember that.» he replied. Luna hummed softly and smiled.

After stumbling a little, they both got themselves ready and under the covers. Gladion let out a soft sigh as his head hit the pillow, which made her giggle softly as she scooted closer to him. As she got closer, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She gently placing her hand on his cheek, she pulled him towards her and gave him a soft peck. As she did it, a soft smile grew on his lips, unconsciously leaning towards her. Gladion let out a soft, contented sigh as she slightly moved, getting more comfortable. As they both were as comfortable as they could get, Gladion closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep. Luna tried to ask him something, only to get no reply and sat up slightly, looking down at him sound asleep.

She let out a soft giggle at the sight, but already knew he was tired, considering that he kept  nodding off on the taxi ride over. «Sweet dreams.» she murmured softly, snuggling up close to him and slowly drifting off.

Luna woke up before Gladion and sat up in the bed a little, stretching her back a little as she looked to her side, seeing him sound asleep still. Not wanting to wake him up, since the trip over to Kalos were long and tiresome, she got out of the bed as silently as possible.She took a quick look at the clock on her nightstand as she stretched her back a little more. Silently walking around the bed, grabbing a few clothes on her way to the bathroom, she locked the doors and took a quick shower. While drying up and getting dressed, she could hear her mother and her brother’s banter, making her roll her eyes and let out a soft sigh. Unlocking the doors, she went into her room again, walking past him as silently as possible over to her desk, getting her phone and a hair tie before finding her way out to the hallway. Putting her phone into her pocket, she walked downstairs, finding her brother in the hallway on his way out.

«Oh..You leaving?» she asked, standing on the stairs.

«Yupp. Lumiose Magazine called and wanted me on the job!» he exclaimed with a big grin.

«They probably just need him as some extra freeloader.» their mother said loudly from the kitchen.

Luna chuckled softly. «I see...»

«Not funny, mom! Goodbye!» he hissed and grabbed his coat and left, slightly slamming the door behind him.

Luna shrugged and sighed, walking over to the kitchen. Seeing her mother sitting at the table with a cup of coffee on hand. «Bonjour.» 

«Bonjour.~» she replied cheerfully. «Don’t mind your brother, you know how he is.» she added.

«I know.» Luna replied, taking a seat opposite of her. «Dad’s outside in the dome?»

Her mother hummed and nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. «As per usual, honey.» Luna nodded, looking over at the kitchen corner. «And...where’s the boyfriend?» she then asked.

Luna blushed into a deep red. «He’s still sleeping...It’s a long trip from Alola after all.» she replied, looking down at the table in front of her.

Her mother nodded and hummed softly. «Of course.» she said, followed by a soft chuckle. Luna felt the heat rise even more up to her cheeks.

Her mother chuckled again and Luna got up from the chair, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room, looking out the windows and over at the dome, where her father was, keeping himself busy with the Vivillons and their pre-evolutions. The more she looked at it, the more she started to wonder why Gladion even liked her. She was from a rather low class family, with nothing to gain, nor lose. Looking around the living room, taking in the features of the room, her mother eventually walked out, giving her a sweet smile and got over to the couch, sitting down and getting comfortable. She patted the seat beside her, gesturing for Luna to sit down and talk, noticing that she had something on her mind.

«Why don’t you tell me how you met this young man?» she asked, smiling softly. 

Luna scratched her cheek timidly, smiling sheepishly as she walked over to the chair opposite of her mother, sitting down. «It’s not really much to tell...» she muttered softly.

«Pfft! Trubbish!» she exclaimed, waving her hands at her. «I know that men don’t fall from the sky, not do they just randomly  _ bump _ into you.»

«If you only knew...» Luna muttered softly, her cheeks as red as ever when she started to think back on how the two managed to actually do that,  _ bump into each other by accident. _

* * *

A few more hours had passed, and the time was already getting past noon and Gladion were sleeping still. Luna decided to wake him up, as he wouldn’t be able to get over the jetlag if he kept sleeping the entire day. She got up to her room and opened the door, closing it behind her and walked over to him, starting to crawl over him, putting her weight onto him.

«Bonjour mon amour.~» she said softly, giving him a soft peck on his cheek.

Gladion just opened one of his eyes slightly, looking up at her and seeing her soft smile. The corners of his lips slightly turned up, letting out a soft hum. «Bonjour.» he muttered in a husky voice.

«Can’t have you sleeping the entire day away, as well as the jetlag won’t get any better either if you do.» she said lightly, gently pushing his bangs away.

He hummed softly and started to move a little, wrapping his arms around her and pulled her with him as he turned over to the side. «It’s rather comfortable though.» he muttered lightly, nuzzling into her neck.

Luna yelped lightly, followed by a soft giggle as he rolled over with her. «I’m sure it is.» She gently ran her fingers through his hair on the back of his head, which made him get the shivers, feeling it trail down his spine.

They kept laying like that for a short while, until Luna muttered softly that they should get up. He hummed and slightly nodded, loosening up the grip around her. He looked up at her, and were about to say something, but quickly got interrupted by a soft kiss and a soft smile from her. Getting caught off guard, she giggled from his surprised look, which turned into a soft smile quite quickly.

«Sneaky.» he murmured.

She gave him a playful wink. «Oh, tu le sais.~» she replied with a giggle.

Giving her a smirk, he tightened the grip around her, pulling her closer to him in the process. She sighed softly, but as quickly she did it, a light yelp came from her. Gladion chuckled softly, sounding quite victorious. She leaned back, looking down as her chest area.

«You bit me!» she exclaimed.

«Marking my territory.» he murmured, the smirk on his lips looking more and more mischievous the more she narrowed her eyes at him. 

Luna puffed her cheeks a little, making him chuckle lightly. She let out a loud sigh, looking defeated and practically went limp. Gladion got surprised as she just kept laying there, feeling her weight on him. She muttered something inaudible as he loosened the grip around her again, giving her a sheepish smile as he put his forehead onto hers.

«Je t’aime.» he said softly to her.

«Oui...oui...Je t'aime aussi chéri.» she replied softly, giving him a soft smile.

He let her go shortly after, sitting up in bed and stretched his arms and back. Luna sat up as well, fixing her shirt, which had rolled up slightly before she crawled out of the bed. She told him were the bathroom was again and that she would be downstairs. Gladion scratched the back of his head and nodded, saying that he’ll get up and ready, and see her downstairs in a few minutes. She nodded and smiled softly, leaving the room and headed out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. Gladion let out a soft sigh, looking around her room a little. He could remember a few things when he arrived the previous night, but since it was quite dark, he didn’t see anything specific. Getting out of the bed, he got over to his bag and opened it up, finding some clothes to get on, as well as getting his toiletries. On his way to the bathroom, he stopped and looked at the massive frame on the wall beside the bed. Looking closely, he noticed it was a board pinned with several mega stones, each with a name for the stone under them. Not knowing how many mega stones there was in the world, but she had quite the collection at least. She did mention at some point when she was in Alola that she had every stone found in Kalos. He looked over it again in a hurry before passing it, getting into the bathroom and getting himself ready for the day. Luna had gone down and into the living room, finding both her parents sitting there, chatting about his Vivillons and how he had to travel to a different region soon in order for some more research. Luna didn’t hear the whole conversation, only that he had to travel soon.

«Are you leaving again soon?» she asked, sounding a little upset about it. «You did just get home again after all...»

He looked over at her. «Oh! There you are! I’m not leaving anytime soon, at least not until I met my new son-in-law.» he said, snickering and having a massive grin across his face.

Luna puffed her cheeks, getting beet red. «We ain’t engaged...» she muttered silently.

Her father laughed while her mother tried to hush him, saying something along the lines of approving her new boyfriend before anything of that would take place. Luna turned on the spot, heading into the kitchen to get herself something to snack on, which was a bad habit of hers whenever she was utterly embarrassed. Taking a seat at the dining table, munching on some salty chips, with quite the prominent pout on her face. Gladion finished and got out of her room, heading some laughing and bantering as he walked down the hallway. He stopped right before the door to the kitchen, his mind getting conscious all of a sudden as he was about to meet her family. Standing there, rethinking what he should do, going through a script of every possible answer he would be able to give them if they asked certain questions. He got so lost in thought that he didn’t notice that Luna had gotten up from her chair and put away the chips, catching herself in action of her bad snacking habits. Passing the door, she saw him standing there, looking rather panicked as she put the bag away onto the shelf. Walking over to the doorframe, she peeked outside, catching his attention. He flinched slightly, looking at her with big eyes, which turned to a sheepish smile quickly. 

«They don’t bite.» she said softly.

He let out a soft groan, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. «I know...I just...» he started, but stopped himself quickly, letting out another groan.

«You’ll be fine. It’s just my parents after all.» she replied lightly with a sweet smile.

«That’s exactly why... _ It’s your parents _ ...you have already met my family.» he muttered.

Out of the blue, the two got so startled by her father gasping rather loudly in front of him. The older man hurried up to him and quickly swung his arm around his shoulder, slightly squeezing him. Her mother was right behind her husband and chuckled softly, smiling sweetly.

«So this is the boy?» he asked Luna, squeezing him tighter. Gladion froze, not sure what to do in the situation. «Welcome to Kalos! And welcome to our humble home.~» he said charminly.

«Dad...you are making him uncomfortable...» Luna muttered softly after seeing Gladion’s very uncomfortable expression.

«Ha! Trubbish!» he said, giving him a firm pat on his shoulder.

«Cosmo...Let the young man breathe.» her mother said in a firm tone, crossing her arms.

Cosmo, her father, grumbled a little but eventually let go of him. Gladion slightly bowed and greeted them, to which Luna’s mother said wasn’t necessary. Luna had gotten beet red again after her father’s  _ greeting _ . After her parents light bantering, they turned over to look at both Luna and Gladion.

«My apologies. I’m Celeste, Luna’s mother and this...» she said, looking over at her husband, who looked a little defeated, but hid it quite well. «...This is Cosmo, my husband and Luna’s father.» she said softly, smiling sweetly at him.

Gladion bowed slightly again, still feeling quite uncomfortable. «Gladion, Aether...» he started, but Luna came forth and wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling sweetly to her parents.

«...And he’s my boyfriend.~» she finished the sentence for him, smiling sweetly with a faint blush across her cheeks.


	45. Pokemon Village

Cosmo chuckled softly, looking over at Celeste with a grin, telling her that their daughter had found herself a fine young man, which made Luna go beet red as her mother agreed, nodding with a sweet smile across her lips. Luna panicked and let go of Gladion and over to her parents, muttering for them to stop embarrassing her in front of her boyfriend. Gladion just stood there, looking quite dumbfounded, but hearing how relaxed their banter was, he found himself relaxing, his shoulders going down. The three kept on going for a short minute before Cosmo looked over at Gladion, apologizing and offered a handshake, properly introducing himself. Gladion accepted the handshake and reintroduced himself to both of them. Luna were still slightly dying, her face as red as it could get, but tried to keep her composure around them. Celeste gently patted her shoulder, telling her to calm down and that her father were just excited. Luna just hummed softly and nodded. Cosmo kept shaking his hand, but in a short second, his expression got rather serious as he looked at Gladion.

«Don’t you even dare...» he muttered loudly enough for only Gladion to hear it.

Gladion shaked his head and swallowed thickly. «Never crossed my mind...» he muttered back.

«Good...» Cosmo replied and quickly went back to his previous and usual self.

Letting go of Gladion’s hand, he put them on his hips and looked over at his wife, telling her that he would be taking a quick look around in the Bug Dome before heading over to Prof. Sycamore’s lab in Lumiose, mentioning that the professor had been wanting to talk to him for a while. Celeste nodded and said that was fine, gently patting his shoulder and smiled softly. Cosmo then excused himself and walked off. 

Gladion looked over at Luna. «Bug Dome?» he asked lightly.

«Oh, yeah. I think i have told you that my dad is a Vivillon breeder, non?» she replied, tilting her head at him.

«Mentioned it briefly.» he said.

«Well...the Bug Dome is just the massive dome outside, which is like a greenhouse, but dad uses it for the Vivillons. Occasionally going to different regions to evolve them in order to find new patterns or ways to get a new pattern on their wings.» he said, giving him a brief explanation of what her father were doing.

«Like...a researcher? Doesn't that make him a professor then?» he asked.

«Oh, he doesn't like the  _ researcher _ or  _ professor _ label, and have insisted to use the  _ breeder _ label instead.» Celeste replied. 

Looking over at her, Gladion nodded. «Alright...» he muttered softly.

Celeste then clapped her hands lightly. «I should get ready myself, as the boutique won’t run on it’s own and my shift is starting soon.» she said with a soft smile on her lips. «Make yourself at home.» she added and passed them, walking off and started to head up the stairs.

Luna walked into the kitchen, and Gladion followed after, hesitating slightly, looking around the room. Luna got up to the kitchen counter and sighed, muttering an apology to him about her father for being overly enthusiastic. Gladion lightly chuckling and telling her that it was fine, adding to her that it was most likely just to embarrass her and throw himself off guard. Luna sighed and nodded, placing her hands on her hips and shifted her weight onto one leg. Gladion walked up to the counter and just kept looking at her, not really sure what to say, as he didn’t want to insult her nor her parents, or family in general.

Luna sighed again and shrugged. «Meh...Whatever. Kalos Toast?» she then asked.

«Hmm?» he just hummed to her.

«Breakfast. Kalos Toast. You want?» she repeated, giving him a sweet smile.

«Oh, uhh… Yes, please...If you don’t mind.» he muttered. 

She hummed and nodded, finding the ingredients for it while Gladion just stood there. His eyes occasionally going back to her while looking around the kitchen, taking in the sight of the place.

* * *

As the day passed, and him getting used to be in someone else’s house and slightly getting to know where everything was, they had taken the trip outside and over to the pokemon village. Gladion had heard of it, but it never crossed his mind to even try and find the place when he was in Kalos for a few years back when he took a few classes in order to prepare himself for Aether. Luna had been there several times, and knew the way by heart, even telling him on the way that she probably could find the place with her eyes closed, to which he found ridiculous, yet funny.

  
«I would like to see that sometime.» he chuckled lightly.

Luna giggled softly. «Oh, I'm sure. Too late now though, since we are here.» she said and pointed in front of her.

Looking in front of them, he saw a massive field covered with yellow flowers, as well as several Pokemon wandering around, minding their own business. Luna pointed out to the small huts around the place, which was something the gym leader Wulfric had made for Snorlax to sleep under.

  
«Snorlax sleeps under one of those?» Gladion asked, looking down at her.   
  
Luna nodded. «It’s because the daycare home around Route 7 attracts it whenever they get new rations of berries. The Pokemon ends up falling asleep on the bridge over to the place.» he said, followed by a soft chuckle.

Luna then took a hold of his hand and dragged him with her, thinking of settling down at the empty hut in the middle of the field. Looking at the Pokemon wandering around them, looking a little suspicious towards him made him feel uneasy. But since she just walked in with him, he figured it would be fine. Seeing that he was looking around, his frown getting more narrow, she reassured him that it was fine for them to be there, and the Pokemon wouldn’t mind them as long as the two of them didn’t try and catch or harm them. 

  
«Never crossed my mind, but...» he started, pausing as his eyes locked with a Furfrou in the distance. «...They look rather...mad...»

«It’s pretty normal, though...Most of these Pokemon were either released by their trainers, harmed by them or just plainly abandoned. They are just wary around people. Some of them are brave enough to walk up to people.» she said as they got to the hut.

Despite pokemon sleeping in them, it was surprisingly clean from any fur, leaves or food. Luna sat down, patting the ground beside her, gesturing for him to sit down as well. He hesitated, but sat down eventually, and as he did, Luna scooted closer, leaning against him. Despite the sounds from Pokemon, and the Snorlax’s snores, it was quite peaceful and silent, making him remember the meadows back in Alola. It just brought back a nostalgic and familiar feeling, making him relax while taking in a rather familiar sight. Sitting there in silence, Luna closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder, letting out a soft content sigh. Looking at her, he came to think about the time he was in Kalos years back, and that he did take on the gyms in the region, but never the league. Looking up and around, it dawned on him that he would have, most likely, met her way earlier if he took on the league at the time. Getting slightly annoyed at himself for not doing so at the time, it was still a blessing in disguise, as if they did, what he had now would most likely never had happened. Reaching for her hand and intertwining their fingers, he gently lifted her hand up, placing a soft kiss on top. Keeping her hand in his, gently rubbing his thumb over hers, a soft smile slowly crept itself onto his face.

«Qu’est-ce qui préoccupe votre esprit?» she asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

«Rien. Juste à y penser...» he muttered lightly.

She hummed softly. «Hmm? Vous êtes sûr?»

«Bien sur que j’en suis sur.» he replied softly.

«Oui oui...» she replied, waving her free hand slightly. «Sur quoi?» she repeated, looking up at him with a smirk.

«Au propos de vous.» he replied, giving her a smirk back.

Her smirk disappeared quickly, getting replaced with a deep blush on her cheeks, timidly averting her eyes from him. His smirk grew into a mischievous one, chuckling at her reaction. Reaching for her chin and gently pulling her to face him and slightly up, he quickly planted a soft kiss on her lips. She didn’t fight it, knowing it was useless she just pursed her lips a little.

«Not fair...» she then muttered.

«What’s not fair?» he asked, his eyes growing as he looked at her. 

She started to mutter something inaudible, making him repeat and ask what she said several times. Sitting there, overly focused on each other, they didn’t notice that Wulfric arrived and noticed the two right away. He laughed as he saw the Kalos champions expression, since it had been a while since he had seen her flustered, as well as being with someone. Keeping himself as silent as possible, he greeted the pokemon that came over to him quickly, telling them to be nice to the two in the hut, silently walking off after a few minutes.

* * *

After sitting there for a while and Gladion finding her adorable when he finally managed to hear what she was muttering. Luna had laid down and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds around them while exchanging a few words with Gladion on occasion. Gladion were still looking around, noticing a few trash bins scattered around, and one occasionally moving. Gladion pointed it out to her and she replied that it was either a Ditto or a ghost Pokemon just playing a prank. She didn’t bother to open her eyes when she told him, but as the word  _ prank _ got to him, he leaned over her as silently as possible, ending up just looking and studying her features, humming softly as a response to her. While he were still looming over her, he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, not being able to resist any longer after just eying her. Parting from it, Luna let out a soft giggle and a sweet smile at him. 

«That why you have been hovering over me for the past minute?» she asked, looking up at him.

«Have no idea what you’re talking about.» he replied with a smirk. 

Luna giggled softly. «Oui oui, monsieur.»

He chuckled and leaned down to her again, locking their lips. Starting off with soft kisses, which turned into a quite heated makeout session in a minute, but got abruptly stopped when they heard someone clearing their throat to their side. Quickly breaking it, both being beet red and looking in the direction where the sound came from, only to see Ciel, Luna’s older brother with a smug smirk across his face.

«Ooh.~ So this is the boyfriend?» he asked in a very condescending and sassy tone.

Luna quickly got up on her feet, huffing and puffing her cheeks while hissing at him. Gladion got up on his feet and dusted off his pants, not sure what to do in the situation, other than to watch Luna scold her brother. Ciel were just snickering, doing his best to hold back his laughter as he kept an eye on the two, mostly on Gladion, who looked very uncomfortable as he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. 

Ciel raised his hands up in defeat. «Alright, sis...Alright.» he chuckled.

«Why are you here?» she asked, sounding quite harsh as she crossed her arms.

«Mom’s at home, making dinner as per usual. Dad’s about to leave to some region...can’t remember which one.» he said, shrugging. «And mom were wondering where you are, so...there’s that.» he said, mockingly grinning at her. He then slightly leaned down to her. «He’s kinda cute...» he added.

«Go back to your closet...» she hissed, not being amused.

«Wha…?» Ciel muttered, looking at the petite girl in front of him with big eyes, not sure how to reply to that.

Luna sighed and turned around towards Gladion. She pointed behind her. «This is Ciel. He’s my older brother and is working as a freelancer for Lumiose Magazine.» she said.

Ciel were still quite stunned by her comment, as he kept standing there, thinking loudly to himself of what she meant with that comment, or rather,  _ how to avoid _ talking about that. «…….» 

Gladion nodded. «R-right...» he muttered, looking over at her brother, who were still looking quite confused.

«Well...since it’s dinner soon, shall we leave?» she asked him, giving him a sweet smile.

«Sure.» he replied.

Luna smiled sweetly and nodded, linking her arm with his as they started to walk off, passing Ciel who were still busy with his own thoughts. Gladion gave him a quick glance, seeing a rather troubled expression and asked Luna if her brother would be fine.

«He’ll be fine. He’s just oblivious to that we already know.» she replied in a low whisper.

«Know what?» Gladion asked, slightly tilting his head.

«That he’s gay.» she replied with a soft smile. Gladion just nodded, not sure what to reply to that, as well as Luna just explained to him that their parents, and her had known for a while, and were, mostly, just waiting for him to tell them. «Don’t worry about it, and him. He’ll be fine once his mind has settled down...» she added, looking over her shoulder at Ciel, who were still standing and looked quite stunned and confused, and would most likely stay like that for a short while.

Once Luna and Gladion walked out of the village, Ciel snapped out of it, looking into the direction of the exit of the place. Looking around a little, noticing that it had started to go dark, he hurried off to follow them, knowing that Luna knew the way out, and could most likely, find the way out in the dark, considering that she had been at the Pokemon village several times before. He kept a small distance between him and the couple, having them in his sight as they walked out of the forest. He kept muttering to himself all the way home.

_ Back into the closet...I have never even  _ **_come out_ ** _ yet... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been preoccupied with Fire Emblem; Three houses a lot, as well as work and classes. Sorry for the slow update!


End file.
